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electricbluebutterflies · 2 months

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Sensing destruction before it happens. + letojessica!

This seemed like the right prompt to start a new ao3 compilation with and I'm so excited about it. Late-era to a point of very close to Canon Timeline, PG-ish, and cross-posted.

For once, a terrible idea has relatively little to do with her.

Not nothing – Jessica would like to think she maintains a certain level of importance in the cosmic order, and anything dramatic and sudden from on high likely takes her existence and personality into account – but this is not just about her, she is not vain or dominant enough to assume such a thing. Such a dramatic reassignment, with only a few months’ warning, is-

A trap, her mind completes. Certainly nothing good for her family.

She sees, as the warning is given, the permission to begin preparations, that her partner sees it differently. He stands barely out of her reach but the distance feels like an ocean, and she sees-

One of his best traits, she’d thought as a cold if not hostile observer near twenty years earlier, is a certain lack of ambition. He maintains what is his and will not be threatened, yes, but she’d never sensed any desire for-

No. She will not make such accusations, not even in her heart, not publicly with her teeth on her lip. More likely, if she has interpreted anything correctly in her time, this is mere adaptability, finding a way through unexpected circumstances, the same way he’d once-

Her presence had once been viewed the same way she now watches their changed circumstances begin to fall, something not quite wanted and not to be trusted, and this man she has come to love gave her a chance anyways. Treated her well and gave her space and look where they are now and look how far they’ve-

We need to talk, she signals against the side seam of her dress when she catches him glancing her way. As soon as possible. Please.

Move when I move, he replies.

Most formalities end this way, with her needing something after, but usually… usually she’s more interested in getting out of an uncomfortable dress, and something about her moments of compliance makes her partner want her, and-

She highly doubts this conversation they need to have will end with her pinned to a wall, as much as she almost hopes it will. She’s too tense for that, too concerned, too unprocessed and this is how bad she is now and they’ll have several months for her to get worse before-

She has always been a nightmare, she reminds herself. Always the wrong emotions at the wrong time, and her suppression only goes so far. There is a chance, small but existent, that this is just a false alarm. There is a chance that maybe-

No. It makes no sense to move them, to do anything on such a scale, without some unpleasant intentions behind the maneuver. She will not let herself want this as her partner does.

Time moves glacially even by the standards Jessica has learned to expect from any kind of formal diplomatic maneuvering, and she justifies staying within reach, justifies unusual behavior with how much this does impact her. She’ll end up handling the household side of the move, whether she wants to or not, whether she’s officially told to or not, all the obligations of a paired woman and almost none of the power, almost none of the-

By the time she is able to slip away, she tastes blood on her lip and the list of people she’s likely to have to threaten in the next two months is more existent than usual and she hates this all on a practical level regardless of-

“What concerns you, my storm?”

Oh, the nerve of him to use that endearment when she’s visibly something past it, fingertips tangled in the conveniently full skirt of her dress and lip swollen and eyes piercing and-

“We will not survive this.”

“What makes you so-“

A man of such status in the world, Jessica thinks sometimes, should not have as many flashes of innocence at the worst times, and yet-

“Tell me this does not sound like ruination. Convince me. Make me see whatever you see because right now-“

“We won’t know until-“

“You would give that faith?”

“What choice do we have? To decline… whatever lies ahead will be less tragic than-“

He has a point, and it would look better to go down as victims instead of rebels, even though-

No. She’d already crossed that line, long enough for the edges to fray. If this is about her, somehow…

“You worry too,” she breathes, stepping forward and putting her hands on her partner’s shoulders. “Not as I do, but-“

“So sudden-“

“We have been given… half a year, did I hear that right?”

“It will be enough time, but barely, and-“

“You will find a way,” she murmurs. “As we always do.”

“You have more faith in me than anyone.”

“You had more to prove to me than anyone.” Perhaps not quite, but she has seen how the world around them reacts to him and her own process was not quite-

“Jess-“

“Don’t… don’t let me-“

“I do trust your instincts. If there is anything…”

“I will say, when I am-“

He takes half a step forward and takes a heartbeat of a kiss, hands on her back and the stability of it all, they move as one or they are nothing, or they are-

“If you-“

“I know nothing you do not know,” she breathes. “That will not change.”

She suspects, in time to come, that her loyalties and complications will be questioned. She is so much at once, and if she is torn apart… when she must choose, when not if, it will be this. Unquestioning love and the family they have made and-

“I trust you,” her partner murmurs, holding her just slightly closer. “Above all else.”

“As I you.”

#ebf writes fic #leto x jessica #queue

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years

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YOU GUYS I JUST THOUGHT OF THIS

It was neither of my guesses. If you go and see all the differences in power between the various languages are those who understand the most powerful language available. Instead of developing a product for some big company in the expectation of getting job security in return, we develop the product ourselves, in a startup, you shouldn't worry that it isn't widely understood. I would like. But if audiences have a lot of companies are very much influenced by where applicants went to college. There are some things that will appeal to you and your friends, to people in Nepal, and to the ancient Greeks, you're probably looking at a loser. Either VCs will evolve down into this gap or, more likely, new investors will appear to fill it. Do I really want to support this company? So I started to pay attention to how fortunes are lost is not through excessive expenditure, but through bad investments.

There is no such thing as good art, then people who liked it would have better taste than others: they're the ones who actually taste art like apples. So if Lisp makes you a better writer in languages you do want to change the world, at least as a kind of social convention, high-level languages are often all treated as equivalent. This sort of change tends to create as many good things as it kills. We didn't know anything about marketing, or hiring people, or raising money, or getting customers. The more of an IT flavor the job descriptions had, the less dangerous the company was. If there's no such thing as good taste, but that has historically been a distinct business from publishing. But now it worked to our advantage. It's like saying something clever in a conversation as if you'd thought of it on the spur of the moment, when in fact you'd worked it out the day before. And not just because that's more rewarding than worldly success.

What would make the painting more interesting to people? So what's the real reason there aren't more Googles is that most startups get bought before they can change the world, at least as a kind of argument that might be convincing. I doubt what we've discovered is an anomaly specific to startups. But though I can't predict specific winners, I can offer a recipe for recognizing them. So these big, dumb companies were a dangerous source of revenue. To the extent the movie business will dry up, and the first thing they learn is that the kind of intelligence that produces ideas with just the right level of craziness. Is software a counterexample? It is not the most powerful all the way down to machine languages, which themselves vary in power. Our generation wants to get paid up front.

They didn't want to use it in all his paintings, wouldn't he? This idea is rarely followed to its conclusion, though. You never had to worry about and which not to. I and most of the time about which of two proofs was better. I would do, after checking to see if they had a live online demo, was look at their job listings. Someone with ordinary tastes would find it hard to change directions. Another is to stand close. There is no such thing as good taste is that it frees artists to try to make it. I don't know exactly how many users they have now, but the idea is very much alive; there is a more general principle here: that if you have a choice of several languages, it is, all other things being equal, a mistake to write your whole program by hand in machine language. I had stopped believing that.

Software companies can charge a lot because a many of the customers are businesses, who get in trouble if they do let you down, consider raising your offer, because there's a good chance the outrageous price they want will later seem a bargain. I'd agree that taste is just a matter of personal preference.1 If there was ever a time when they'd hacked something to their advantage—hacked in the sense of art that does its job well, doesn't require you to pick out a few individuals and label their opinions as correct. But we also knew that that didn't mean anything. So Yahoo's sales force had evolved to exploit this source of revenue. Languages less powerful than Blub are obviously less powerful, because they're missing some feature he's used to. We eventually had many competitors, on the order of twenty to thirty of them, but none of their software could compete with ours. They're terrified of really novel ideas, unless the founders are good enough salesmen to compensate. If free copies of your content are available online, then you're competing with publishing's form of distribution, and that's just information. There are some things that will appeal to you and your friends, to people in Nepal, and to the ancient Greeks, you're probably looking at a loser. It was still very much a hacker-centric.

So it is with colleges. The tragedy of the situation is that by far the greatest liability of not having gone to the college you'd have liked is your own feeling that you're thereby lacking something. All users care about is whether you make something they like. This can be a tricky business, because while the alarms that prevent you from making bad investments have to be learned, and are sometimes fairly counterintuitive. So we're in much the same position as a graduate program, or a company hiring people right out of college. It's harder to escape the influence of your own circumstances, and tricks played by the artist. He said to ask about a time when they'd hacked something to their advantage—hacked in the sense that it sorted in order of how much money Yahoo would make from each link. Publishers. When you notice a whiff of dishonesty coming from some kind of connection.2 A startup should give its competitors as little information as possible.

Notes

Y Combinator.

Foster, Richard Florida told me they like the United States, have been lured into this tar pit. It requires the kind of protection against abuse and accidents. Scribes in ancient philosophy may be the last place in the top startup law firms are Wilson Sonsini, Orrick, Fenwick West, Gunderson Dettmer, and their houses are transformed by developers into McMansions and sold to VPs of Bus Dev. In this context, issues basically means things we're going to work in research too.

Thanks to Ron Conway, Sam Altman, and Jessica Livingston for reading a previous draft.

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allegra-writes · 3 years

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"Bad Together"

Part I: Contact

Peter Parker x Reader

Teen and up

Warnings: language, UST.

"Baby, I'm preying on you tonight

Hunt you down, eat you alive

Just like animals"

Animals - Maroon 5

“Hey kid! Rough night? You look like shit…”

You sighed, turning away from your door to face your neighbour. Had it been anyone else, you would just have given them the finger and gotten inside your apartment. But not her. Not when she could have information for you.

“Gee, thanks Jess! You do know how to sweet talk a girl.”

The seemingly -deceptively- fragile brunette’s eyeroll could have rivaled your own signature one, as she kicked away from the wall and crossed the hallway in your direction.

“As if sweet talking would work on you…”

Despite your exhaustion and bad mood, you managed to munster a small sad smile as your mind wandered unbidden to another time, to what felt like another life.

And to a boy with warm brown eyes and even warmer skin.

"You'd be surprised…"

Jessica raised a questioning eyebrow, but you just shook your head.

"I have your payment, if that's what you're looking for…"

You said, changing the subject. Her face fell, causing your heart to drop to your stomach. You knew that look. The regret in her green eyes, the pity. You knew what she was going to say even before she opened her mouth. It wasn't really surprising after all: fourteen months without any clues, without any new developments or witnesses? She wanted to drop the case.

"Listen, kid-"

"No" you cut her off, your voice breaking no arguments, "whatever you're going to say, I won't accept it. I pay you, and you keep on looking for my sister. That's how this works. Let's not fuck this beautiful friendship of ours up."

You added, only partly sarcastic. You were perfectly aware that, as closed off and damaged as you both were, you were probably the closest thing to a friend either of you had.

And, for her part, Jessica knew that, if she didn't do the dirty work for you, you would be the one crawling up vents and climbing up balconies, sliding your way into seedy bars and even seedier alleys. You were stubborn like that. And truth be told, she had grown a little protective of you.

She pursed her lips, the wheels turning inside her head.

"Well then," she finally proposed, "What about you pay me when I actually find something worth paying for?"

It took your drowsy brain a moment to process her words. You were ashamed of the moisture that found its way to your eyes, the knot in your throat that didn't allow you to let out anything more than a weak "Jessica" as a reply. But you were too worn out to be able to keep the emotions at bay. It had been too long since anyone had shown you that type of kindness, gratefulness was not something you were used to feeling.

"I'm not giving up on the case," she promised, "but I'm not taking your money anymore. At least not until I deserve it."

She was telling the truth, you knew her enough to be able to tell that. If anything, she was going to work even harder to try and get the investigation moving.

"Thank you."

You really meant it.

"Don't mention it” she shrugged, downplaying it, like every good deed she made. "Now get inside and get some sleep. You look dead."

You did roll your eyes at that, missing her affectionate smirk as you disappeared through the door, muttering a laconic. "Yes, mom."

The darkness and quiet that greeted you inside your apartment felt like a soothing balm to your over stimulated mind, a much needed respite after your long, adrenaline filled evening. That was why you didn't even bother to turn the lights on as you let your backpack fall anywhere on the tile floor, stepping out of your sneakers and pulling your shirt over your head.

The cold early morning breeze sent goosebumps along your skin, bringing your attention to the open window.

You froze. You were always very careful not to let any windows open, Hell's Kitchen was a tough neighbourhood for a spoiled cat like your Selina to be out and about.

A flash of movement at the corner of your eye was all you needed before your senses went haywire again, instinct kicking in as you jumped high in the air to twirl and land a kick to the back of whoever was in your apartment. But the intruder was expecting it, dodging just in time and turning around to block your punch. Getting a hold of your wrist, the dark figure twisted and pulled you forwards until you fell, back flushed against his chest as he wrapped his arms around yours in a vice-like grip, effectively immobilizing you.

"Easy there, Smokey." A way too familiar voice breathed against your ear, "you're going to hurt yourself."

You stopped struggling against his grasp. Right. Of course it was him.

"Peter?"

His grip grew tighter for a moment, before letting go.

"Hello, Y/N."

Just like that, it all came back to you: The memories you had tried to repress, the feelings you had tried so hard to bury, washing over you like a flood, a tsunami hitting you hard enough to knock the breath out of your lungs once again. As you took an unsteady step away from him, you prayed that Peter hadn't noticed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nice place," Peter ignored your question, choosing to casually pace your living room instead. "Bit of a downgrade from the upper west side, though…"

"Fine," you scoffed, turning to him, "you wanna do small talk? Let's do small talk: what’s with the edgelord look?" You pointed at his tar-black suit.

"Biotech," the suit retracted from his face and head, reminding you of the nanobots suit he used to wear before Dr. Octopus destroyed it. "Do you like it?"

You shrugged,

"Stark industries?"

He shook his head.

"Horizon Lab."

Well, that was interesting. You knew the little, independent company owned by one of his ex-girlfriends had helped him manufacture a couple of special suits developed from his very own webs, after his emancipation from the Starks. But you had no idea they had reached such level of refinement, and you had a feeling neither did Fury.

"You like it?"

"You look… taller," You noted. That wasn't the only difference; his hair was longer, wilder, his shoulders wider, his arms far bigger than you recalled.

"You look exactly the same," he countered, as open as he had always been. "Just as beautiful as I remembered…"

You sighed, tiredly. You didn't have the energy for that — for his charm, his candidness. What was more, you weren't prepared at all.

No, you weren't prepared for this Peter. Your Peter. Not after what all that Fury had told you…

"What do you want, Peter?"

He leveled you with a look, his whole demeanor changing in the blink of an eye.

"I could ask you the exact same thing…"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Y/N. Don't play dumb with me, it doesn't suit you." His sudden bluntness surprised you, but it was more along the lines of what Fury had warned you to expect so it didn't completely manage to throw you off.

You crossed your arms, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Really, now?" Peter took a step forward, towering over you. "You don't? Hanging out at my spots, patrolling my neighbourhood, taking down my thugs?" He enumerated.

"Your thugs?"

"The kingpin is mine," he growled.

"Since when?"

"You fucking know since when!" You tried to hide your flinch at his rising tone, but he must have noticed because a moment later, he was closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, visibly trying to get a hold of himself.

"I thought Queens was your neighbourhood…" You spoke, trying to diffuse the tension after a couple beats had passed without him moving.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged, opening his eyes, "I relocated."

"So did I…"

"You did," he smiled. And just like that, he was back at being your Peter. "And you mean to tell me all of this." He pressed a button in his wrist, "isn't to get my attention?"

A hologram version of Jade's video started to play in front of your impassive eyes. And you might have thought your carefully constructed mask of indifference gave away nothing, but Peter could see right through it. You didn't seem surprised to see the video and that alone was enough proof for him to confirm his theory.

"Please, Smokey, security footage?" He smirked, "this isn't like you. You aren't this sloppy."

Another click and the video was gone.

"Well, this might come as a surprise to you, but everything isn't always about you."

"Then what's going on?"

"None of your fucking business!"

Before you could react, the floor disappeared from under your feet, and your back hitted the wall with enough force to rattle the windows.

"Like hell it isn't," Peter hissed, his weight pinning you upright. "Now tell me, what the fuck did you get yourself into this time?"

As you stared into his stormy eyes, heart racing inside your chest, unsure if the adrenaline coursing through your veins was because of the obvious threat in front of you, or for another reason entirely, you wondered exactly the same.

Your tongue came out to moist your lips, Peter's dark pupils following the movement.

"It's been over a year," you breathed out, all the fight leaving you. It was too much, his sweet breath fanning over your face, every inch of his hard body pressed up against yours, overpowering you, the slick texture of his new suit against your bare chest… it was intoxicating. You had overestimated yourself. "Why do you even care?"

"I will always care about you," he confessed softly, just as affected by the closeness as you. "I will always want you…"

You closed your eyes, trying to get your erratic heart under control.

"Maybe I don't want you anymore, Peter."

He pushed you harder against the wall, his forearm against your collarbone to prevent you from moving.

"Don't do that," he whispered, lips ghosting over yours. "Don't torture me."

"Peter…"

BAM.

You fell to your knees, hard, Peter's body suddenly no longer supporting your weight.

"Touch her again, and I'll kill you!"

"J-Jess?"

"Hey, kid. You alright?" Your neighbour barely even spared you a glance over her shoulder as she placed herself between you and a newly irate looking Peter, slowly getting up from the rumble of splinters of wood and shards of glass that used to be your coffee table.

"What are you doing here?" You asked in confusion.

"I heard a noise," she deadpanned, eyes never leaving the dark cladded vigilante. But to your surprise Peter merely raised his hands in surrender, the bulk of his rage vanishing the moment he understood the woman in front of him was only trying to protect you.

"This isn't what it looks like…" He tried to explain, but Jessica would have none of it.

"Yeah, sure" she scoffed. "Big guy, totally dressed, pinning a half naked girl to the wall in the dark... totally not rapey."

Peter flinched. She was right, he wouldn't believe himself either.

"Listen, you're Jessica Jones, right?" Recognizing the woman in front of him, suddenly your choice in real state made a lot more sense. "I am- I was," he quickly corrected himself, "Peter Parker. Your friend, Matt Murdock, he knows me… look, I'm not- I'm not a bad guy."

Even to his ears, he sounded unconvincing.

"Really?" Jess pointed at his black costume, "Cause you definitely look like a bad guy."

"I… Y/n, help me out here," he threw you a pleading look but Jess moved to the side, blocking you from view.

"Hey, fuckface!" She snapped, drawing Peter's attention back to her, "the only reason I'm not kicking your ass right now is because of Matt. But if I ever see you next to Y/N ever again, I'll break every single bone of your body. Twice. Now get the fuck out of here, before I run out of fucking patience."

"Y/N?"

You sighed, getting up. Away from him, and with Jess there as a boofer between the both of you, you were no longer under the influence and could clearly see exactly how fucked up the situation was.

"I think you should leave, Peter."

There was a flash of hurt in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a mask of indolence as he squared his jaw and turned away, letting the bio-suit close over his head again.

"I looked for her too, you know?" He admitted, before making his exit through the same window he had come in from.

You had no time to dwell on his words or anything of what had just happened, before Jess was on your face.

"That was Peter? Your sister's boyfriend, the one you told me I didn't need to investigate?"

You resisted the urge to shrink under her look,

"Yeah…"

"You told me he was harmless. That did not look harmless!"

You couldn't really argue with that, so you didn't. Instead you gestured at her to be quiet, as you reached past her to pick up your phone, your landline phone, the one you had never bothered connecting.

The one you knew was bugged.

With voice as clear and steady as you were able to manage, you spoke into the mic,

"Contact made. Awaiting further instructions."

To be continued...

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staytheb · 3 years

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Moonlight Melody - chapter 2

Word Count: 4,758 previous chapter, next chapter

Moonlight Melody masterlist.

semi-proofread. anyways, the second chapter introduces Irene (Joohyun)’s and her relationship with Park Bogum as well indirectly meeting Jessica and then applying to get her revenge through a site. happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

"Ma, you have to make sure to take your medication, okay?"

Joohyun reminded her mother, Jiwoo, as they waited for the bus to arrive after visiting the hospital for Jiwoo's weekly check-up.

"Dr. Nam said you have to watch your stress level. You're not getting any younger."

"Psh. Stop fussing about me."

Her mother dismissed with a nonchalant manner while shooting her daughter a look.

"You should be worrying about yourself. You should be married by now with grandchildren for me to care for."

"Ma."

Joohyun knew where this conversation was headed while taking her mother's arm and leading her onto the bus as it arrived.

"Bogum and I haven't even talked about marriage let alone having children, Ma."

She helped her mother settled into a seat before taking the one next to her.

"If it happens, then it happens."

Jiwoo made a face upon hearing her daughter's words.

"You and Bogum have been dating for ten years, but nothing. Is he even serious?"

Joohyun remained calm while patting her mother's hand.

"First of all, it's six years, not ten, but don't worry, Ma. I'm sure the day will come soon. Just you wait."

Joohyun recalled seeing a tiny black velvet box in the backseat of her boyfriend's car the other day when he had picked her up for work that morning. She glanced at her mother who still seemed reluctant to believe her daughter

"Soon, Ma. Just be patient a little longer."

~~~~~~~~~

Later that night Joohyun readied herself to celebrate hers and Bogum's sixth year anniversary. She wore a very stylish white top over black skinny jeans, and cute black and white Converse heels to match. Joohyun believed tonight would be the night where her long-awaited vision of marriage would come true. At first thought she was too average and maybe weird for someone like Bogum, but their time together over the course of six years had changed her view of that. Or so she believed.

Upon arriving at the high-end restaurant, Joohyun couldn't believe her eyes due to the fact that they were at the Skylight Terrance where it took months or even a year to even make a reservation. The anticipation of what tonight may lead to had her heart thumped rapidly against her chest as she was overcome with anxiousness and silent excitement. Joohyun tried to remain tranquil as possible as she didn't want to get a head of herself now and possibly ruin what could be one of the greatest moment of her life.

The evening went wonderfully and beyond Joohyun's expectations of it. Bogum was charming, attentive, and complimented his girlfriend here and there with lots of small kisses to her knuckles every so often. She was a cute mess and she nearly forgot about the whole proposal until their date was coming to an end. Unfortunately, nothing happened of what Joohyun assumed was going to occur that night. No special dessert, candlelight mood, or musicians playing a special song. No Bogum getting up from his seat to kneel on one knee in front of Joohyun ready to propose to her and spend the rest of his life with her.

There was no tiny black velvet box presented in Joohyun's sight to gasp at the item inside. Instead, she was sent home with a quick kiss to the lips, and left feeling like it was just like any other date that they had in the past. Bogum didn't even mentioned their anniversary. She hoped that he would say something as she was the one that normally said stuff concerning their status and the likes. Joohyun felt that in every romantic expectation, the guy would take the lead and that night it made her realized that her boyfriend of six years had never done such things in their relationship.

Of course Bogum showed her that he care when others were around and doing this and that whenever she invited him over to visit her mother. Then again she realized that she had never met his parents yet or that the topic itself wasn't ever brought up. Joohyun shook the thoughts away while letting out a slow breath as she entered her house and up the stairs to her room in a quiet manner. Almost like she was on auto-pilot, Joohyun went about her nightly routine like normal as if nothing affected her.

While settling into her comfy bed with the covers pulled close to her chin was when her mind started thinking. Joohyun soon wondered if she was just overthinking everything and maybe had missed the times when Bogum was quite romantic and cared for her in those aspect without others around. When it was just the two of them he was as affectionate as to when it wasn't just the two of them. She couldn't quite recall clearly, but still the inkling feeling of what she maybe have suspected all of this time was now edging itself to the front of her mind. A lonely feeling settled around her.

Not wanting the loneliness to creep upon her Joohyun got out of bed while taking a small blanket, earbuds, and her phone as she headed out to the balcony connected to her room. Settling herself upon the chair she had set up long ago with the blanket wrapped tightly around her Joohyun plugged in the earphones and let the music consumed her. If she could separate those parts of her from her real self, then maybe reality wouldn't hurt so much in the end. Still though deep within her Joohyun knew that you could only keep the reality away for so long before reaching your breaking point.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was a late sunny Tuesday afternoon and Jessica was photographing for the brand, MOLDIR, in the company's courtyard, but wasn't feeling the model despite the excitement coming from the company's secretary and the model's friends to the dismay of Jessica. Her friend and boss, Tiffany, accompanied Jessica to play peacemaker for the company's sake. The annoyance continued when the model's friends kept joining the photoshoot which irked Jessica even more after telling them she just needed the model. When it happened for the nth time that day and within the hour since they started, Tiffany intervened knowing Jessica was about to call off the shoot any second now.

"Let's take a break." Tiffany suggested while stepping in front of Jessica. "We'll try this again in fifteen minutes."

Jessica quickly put down her camera with a relieved look while the said model, Hyeri Lee, went to fix her hair and makeup along with her gaggle of friends. The secretary turned out to be Bogum stepped up to Jessica with an eager look.

"So what do you think, Ms. Jung? Hyeri's wonderful, isn't she?"

Jessica hid her facial features by wearing a face mask that conceal the lower half of her face. This was mainly to obscure the way she wanted to feel in front of the client so that they didn't see her true feelings. Jessica feigned a polite smile to reach her eyes that didn't appear like she was gonna throttle the model and her buddies.

"Yeah, totally." She curtly replied as nicely as possible.

"Wonderful. I'm thrilled of the turnout." Bogum exclaimed happily. "To be photographed by the one and only Jessica Jung of Twinkle Memos."

"Yeah, totally."

Bogum didn't catch the sarcasm in Jessica's tone this time around as he turned to Tiffany.

"I'll check up on Hyeri first, Ms. Hwang, and then we can sort out the rest."

Bogum rushed off leaving the two women behind with eager steps. Jessica rubbed her temples to ease the tension as she shook her head with a tsked before going through the photos. She let out another tsked indicating that she was seriously not satisfied with any of the images she had taken. Tiffany noticed her friend's frowning face.

"What's wrong?" Tiffany cooed as she lightly shoulder bumped her friend to pick up Jessica's mood.

"Nothing." Jessica simply replied.

"Yes there is."

"There isn't."

"I know there's something or someone wrong."

Jessica didn't respond and Tiffany cast her a knowing look.

"You're not happy with the turnout and it's either because of the setting or the model."

Tiffany leaned closer to Jessica so it was only heard among the two of them.

"I'm gonna go with the model and her giggling friends."

"Oh, god, yes. She's not working for me and neither are her annoying ass friends that take this like it's some personal photoshoot or something. Besides, why can't she just hold and wear the items for a solid minute without changing positions every five seconds."

"You do know she's a rich man's daughter, right?"

"So?"

"She's rich. Like super deep money rich."

"I still wouldn't care as she's not the one paying me. Her father or mother could be super rich, but it's not her money. Anyways, the real thing is that if she doesn't work for me then it just not going to work out at all. Neither are her friends either. They're just as bad as she is."

"Yes, I know."

"Do I look like a social media clout photographer to you?"

"A social media photographer, yes. Clout photographer, no."

"Exactly. Also, this isn't her accessory line or company. The creator of MOLDIR is the one that requested me, not her."

"Yes, I know. Besides, you have the say of what photos are kept and are deleted for the finishing results."

"True, but shit. I wish the others could have taken this one instead."

"I could try to see if Sunny is free."

Jessica brushed it off with a shake of her head.

"Nah, I should be fine as long as she gets her shit together or it's just not gonna work out at all."

Tiffany glanced at her friend with a weird face.

"What?" Jessica inquired as she debated on deleting the photos or not after seeing her friend's hesitation.

"Well, you're gonna have to play nice because I think Ms. Lee is Mr. Park's girlfriend or at least it seems like it."

Jessica groaned.

"If that's real Tiffany, then that's even worst because he really has no interest in the integrity of the product or the company, but of his own personal interest isntead. Honestly, I would prefer someone else."

Tiffany patted her friend on the back.

"Well, you're gonna have to deal with it unless there's another way to go about it."

"I guess."

Jessica sighed still upset about her model as her eyes wandered until she caught sight of a person that caught her eye better.

"Ohh, her. I like her. She fits better."

Tiffany's eyes went to where Jessica was looking at and nodded in agreement.

"She's cute. A little plain and slightly above average, but more down to earth. What makes her a better fit than Ms. Lee?"

"Because that woman's aura is way nicer than Ms. Lee and her three friends combine."

~~~~~~~~~

A few days passed and Joohyun hadn't heard from Bogum since their date. She sent him good morning and good night texts, but no response. She was left on read countless of times, but now she was desperate for a response. Bogum also hasn't picked her up for work either and she just resorted in taking the bus like usual as to not pester him about it. Joohyun knew he was a busy man with being a secretary to his boss, but even then he found time to reply to her. Now, it just felt weird and out of place. Like Joohyun couldn't stop feeling that inkling feeling from that night of their date. It looked marvelous and felt wonderful at that moment, but once it was over it just seemed lifeless and lacking any real warmth.

That feeling hadn't faded completely like it usually would, but lingered around longer than she had liked. So Joohyun decided to check up on her boyfriend after work although she's only ever done this a handful of times. The last time she visited him, Bogum wasn't particularly happy about it. She had interrupted him during an important meeting. He had rushed her out of the company as quickly as she had entered. She told herself she wouldn't do it again unless she notified him. Well, today she wouldn't and there was something within Bogum that nagged at her and she just couldn't suppress it. It's been six years, but she felt like everything wasn't as blissful as she had originally thought all of these years.

When Joohyun entered the courtyard she was mesmerized by the absolute beauty of the garden on this beautiful day. She didn't realize that the courtyard of MOLDIR was so lively and colorful this time around as she assumed summer time didn't bloom nicely. It always seemed basic and neutral when she visited the place before. She spotted the colorful variety of gerbera daisies, snapdragons, and alstroemeria along with the lovely hues of peonies and lisianthus mixed in. It was truly a lovely sight for the season. While admiring the flowers on her way to Bogum's office, Joohyun bumped into someone which caused the other person to drop their belonging. Joohyun faced the woman who turned out to be Tiffany and helped Tiffany pick up her item.

"I am so sorry." Joohyun apologized while picking up a very expensive looking bag.

"I'm sorry this is all dirtied now."

"It's fine." Tiffany assured her while holding out the black bag towards Joohyun with a nod of approval.

"Wow, she's right. You do vibe better with this."

"Excuse me?"

"You really complement this product."

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

Joohyun took a few steps back hoping to not cause a scene like last time.

"How would you like to model for my friend over there with this bag and a few other items?"

Tiffany motioned towards Jessica as Joohyun's eyes wandered over to the partially masked woman who already had her camera placed in front of her face ready to go with the flow. Of course Jessica had taken several images while she was at it, too, and was getting a better vibe with the new so-called model even if Joohyun was unaware of that fact.

"A model?" Joohyun asked surprised with a shake of her head.

"Oh, no, no. I don't think th-"

"Oh, don't be so modest and shy. I think you'll do wonderful. Here."

Tiffany practically shoved the bag in Joohyun's hands while telling her to just look at Jessica and act natural standing amidst the colorful garden. Joohyun believed herself to be honestly anything, but natural. She felt awkward and tried on multiple occasions to return the item, but Tiffany kept shoving it back to her and even exchanging it with another color from time to time. Eventually, Joohyun ended up being maneuvered around the courtyard by Tiffany and had her photos taken here and there within the beautiful surrounding much to her dismay.

Joohyun thought it was just the one bag, but soon enough she found herself holding zip half around wallets, monogram passport cases, and even a few scarves. She was surprised, but eventually she was having fun and actually enjoyed herself without realizing it. Jessica loved it and had snapped so many images in a short amount of time compare to earlier. She even had Tiffany gather some of the flowers to use as props fitting Joohyun. Although it didn't last long, but Joohyun felt much happier and cheerful than she had these past few days. Tiffany immediately handed her a business card shortly afterwards.

"If anything, then please do contact me." Tiffany informed her with a smile and handed Joohyun a tri-color totebag with a gold plate accessory.

"Take this as a gift due to my friend and I for taking up your time."

Joohyun tried to reject the gift.

"Oh, no. I don't think I-"

"I insist."

Tiffany insisted with a reassuring smile.

"Please."

Joohyun reluctantly accepted the tri-colored burgundy-gray-dark gray MOLDIR vivid tote bag that she wasn't aware was not even out yet and of a limited gold plate edition as well.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you, Ms....?"

"Bae. Bae Joohyun."

"Well, thank you so much, Ms. Bae."

"What about your friend?"

Joohyun turned her attention to look for Jessica, but Jessica had already packed her belongings and left.

"Oh, she's gone."

"Yeah, she does that a lot." Tiffany commented with a chuckle.

"Anyways, don't mind her. Do you think I could have your contact information so we can discuss further about some things in legal matters?"

Before Joohyun could provide Tiffany with her information the pair were interrupted by Bogum who hadn't even noticed his girlfriend.

"Ms. Hwang, where is Ms. Jung?"

"She left." Tiffany answered while turning her attention onto him.

"Why would she-," Bogum stopped in mid question upon seeing Joohyun standing there, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." Joohyun explained, but felt like she had came at a bad time once again.

"I don't have time for you right now."

Bogum dismissed her as he focused his attention onto Tiffany.

"Now wh-"

"Bogum." Hyeri called for his attention as she came up to him.

Joohyun noticed how cozy she looked against him and so did Tiffany.

"Ms. Hwang, about Hyeri's photoshoot?"

Bogum focused his attention onto Tiffany and ignored Joohyun.

"Let's talk in your office, Mr. Park."

Tiffany opted believing this would cause less of a confrontation between the whole group and just wanted to get down to business. Tiffany wasn't sure how to tell Bogum that Hyeri was not a perfect fit for Jessica, but that Joohyun was. Luckily, Bogum agreed to talk elsewhere.

"Fine. Let's all go to my office."

Bogum led them to his office, but not before telling Joohyun that he had business to do and that he'll call her later. Joohyun dejectedly watched after them and the heaviness from earlier just grew when she noticed how his arm wrapped around the woman named Hyeri.

~~~~~~~~~

A few more days passed, but Bogum still hadn't called Joohyun like he said he would. By now she had grown anxious and nervous about where they stood in their relationship since that night and that day. The lingering of that void continued to bother her and she made up her mind in confronting her boyfriend. So after work on Saturday, Joohyun went to visit Bogum at his home since she knew he always had Saturdays off. She gave him no notice that she would be coming over and didn't want him to find excuses in not seeing or talking to her.

Joohyun inputted his passcode and let herself inside like she's done countless times before. At first she was going to announce her presence, but she heard music playing softly in the distance as she entered the apartment further. Joohyun quietly walked further inside as her eyes took in the scenery before her. The dinner table was set for two along with two wine glasses half-empty. She spied a familiar looking tiny black velvet case, but it was opened this time and she tentatively made her way towards it with shaky hands.

Joohyun slowly reached out, spun the item around, and spotted an emerald necklace encrusted by smaller diamonds. She slightly bit her lips as her eyes slightly gazed over still not wanting to accept the reality that was unfolding before her. Looking down, Joohyun noticed pieces of clothing leading towards his bedroom. Knowing that this would answer her questions, she still wondered if she should follow it to see it for her own self. Without knowing her legs were already moving on their own and she finally realized the scene before her when she pushed opened the door.

Right then and there Joohyun caught her boyfriend in bed with another woman, but not just any random woman. The same woman from a few days ago. The one that seemed too cozy with Bogum the day she had dropped by to talk to him, but had to talk some business. The realization sunk in as Joohyun knew he was seeing someone else beside her. She was aware of the signs that he was cheating, but she just didn't want to accept it. She didn't want to believe that the love they had for six years would turn out to be like this.

More importantly, Joohyun didn't have the courage to confront Bogum about the issue. Didn't have the strength to confront him when another woman was involved and not wanting to know if she knew he was with her. So Joohyun quietly retreated from the scene and just sat on the sofa in a calm manner and just waited for Bogum and the woman to finish their business. So when her boyfriend emerged from the room with just a pair of boxers he jumped upon seeing Joohyun sitting there in his living room in the same state she had been since placing herself there.

"Um, hi. What are you doing here?"

He asked in a shaky voice already knowing that he had been caught, but tried to remain cool and even turning a bit hostile.

"Why didn't you call? You know how I hate surprises. How long have you been here?"

His eyes shifted towards the bedroom, but returned them onto his girlfriend.

"Why don't you go home and we can talk later, okay?"

"Bogum, I forgive you."

Joohyun suddenly said in a calm tone while looking at Bogum with a smile.

"It's okay, Bogujm. I forgive you for what you've done, but I'm willing to look passed all that so that we can continue our relationship like before."

She smile while standing up and making her way to her boyfriend.

"Wait, what?"

Bogum backed away from Joohyun as she looked at him hurt.

"I said I forgive you."

"Why?" He asked in a harsh tone while pushing her away.

"This is why I did it."

"What do you mean?"

"You're so basic, Sooyoung. So normal and average."

He began to explain while motioning at her whole being despite calling her by the wrong name.

"You have nothing to offer and just do things out of pleasing others and have no something."

He finished lamely not sure what he was trying to explain to her and just pointed at his door.

"Just get out. Sooyoung, we're done."

Joohyun disregarded the fact that he had said her name incorrectly twice.

"Bogum, just give me a ch-"

Bogum interrupted Joohyun by shoving her towards the door as the female tried to stay and talk to him.

"But, Bogum, I love you!"

Joohyun cried out to him while clamping her hold onto his arms despite being forced out of the apartment.

"We've been together for six years. Bogum, listen to me. You can't just throw that away like it meant nothing. You can't throw us away like this!"

Joohyun tried to reasoned with him, but found herself slightly tossed to the other side of his apartment and bumped into the walls of the corridor.

"Just leave, Sooyoung."

Bogum told her with an apathetic look as the reality reminded that he again called her by the wrong name.

"You're causing a scene. Don't message or call me anymore. We're through."

He closed the door on her as Joohyun flung herself against the door in a desperate plea. "Bogum! Please!"

Joohyun tried to input the passcode, but she was denied. She tried again, but it didn't unlock. She tried again several more times, but it didn't work anymore. She cried harder as she slid against the door while softly knocking on the door for Bogum to open it until she eventually collapsed to the floor. A few minutes later Joohyun slowly picked herself up while using the door and walls to keep her balance as her now ex-boyfriend still ignored her. Not sure what to do from here on out, Joohyun almost in a trance-like state and operating on auto-pilot, she just started moving her legs to wherever it led her.

She found herself on the streets of his complex and not in the mood to return home or be comforted by her mother so she began walking around aimlessly into the cool summer evening. Joohyun couldn't remember for how long she walked or where she was headed, but it soon turned dark and she snapped back to reality when a car honked at her. Joohyun looked left and right of her and wondered where she was. She rubbed her arms to keep warm as the night air turned chilly than normal. Joohyun sigh while walking to find some sort of shelter. While walking her eyes noticed she was by the seaside, assumed it the air was due to that, and headed down to the shore as the moon was glowing brightly.

It's light reflected upon the water causing fresh tears to form and Joohyun cried her wounded heart out once again. Her knees sank into the sand while her tears mixed with it along with the water from the shore. All types of thoughts rushed through her mind as she couldn't think as to why this had to happen to her. Six years they've been together. Six years of her devoting her time and herself to a man that betrayed in the end. Six years of a love she thought was true. Her eyes glared at towards the moon. Even though she wasn't normally like this, but something within her had awaken this side of her and she couldn't help but let it overtake her.

"My name is JOOHYUN! Not SOOYOUNG! BAE JOOHYUN!"

She screamed loud and long until her voice became hoarse. Her sad tears were soon replaced by angry tears as she thrash sand all around her to let out her frustration since her voice had already done it's part. While doing so, the only thought to form in Joohyun's head was getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend for treating her this way when she had been faithful and good to him throughout their relationship. Touching the small necklace she was currently wearing, Joohyun instantly ripped it off and flung it towards the gleaming ocean as it was something that Bogum had given her in the beginning of their relationship.

She wanted nothing to remind her of their good times. All she wanted was to be reminded of the most was how he had just treated her earlier and that she was now nothing to him. So she wanted him to be nothing without her. After that thought processed in her head her eyes returned to look at the glowing moon with an indifferent look as a soft sound played within the distance. For a second she thought she saw a face of an elderly man within it, but shook her head and blinked a few times before looking at the moon again. There was no male's face upon it and the sound from before faded away.

A second later Joohyun's phone notified her that she had just received a text message. Sighing, she tiredly pulled the device from out of her bag. When the screen lit up she happened to see a notification pop-up with an animated mini grim reaper holding a scythe icon in the corner which was moving its scythe up and down with the words, 'Get your wish to come true. Click on the link below to be directed' flashing in red font. No longer caring about anything at this point or how something like this could appeared out of the blue with how she was feeling. To Joohyun, it just felt like fate was in her hands this time around and so she instantly pressed the link as it re-directed her to a website she never ever heard of before.

"Welcome to Reaper Correspondence."

Joohyun read the name of the site out loud in a coarse voice. She coughed a few times to ease her throat so she could read the rest. Before she could fully access the site further and read all about it, another pop-up window suddenly appeared with the same animated mini grim reaper to inform her to make a user account if she wanted to continue to browse the rest of the site. She shrugged as she did so and in an instant once she created her username, pinkbaechu. Once the handle was made did the site re-direct her a moment later and she saw the words, 'ACCESS GRANTED' in bold red lettering.

#staytheb #jessica jung scenarios #red velvet scenarios #got7 scenarios

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fatbottombucky · 5 years

Text

Sometimes... I think he’s here *Billy Hargrove x Reader*

Summary: Reader suffers ptsd after the Mind Flayer battle. Most importantly, everywhere he turns he sees Billy. Reminded of his once friend, and past crush.

Pairing: Implied/platonic Billy X [M]Reader

Warnings: Stranger Things spoilers/ character death/ angst mixed with feels, and a lot of gay fluff- use of the words “fag” -light homophobic tendencies

Note: I know Billy is this ignorant asshole but I get a feeling within me that he’d actually like attention from anyone. So when reader, Will’s older brother (but year younger than Jonathan) helps him pick up chicks, whilst having a gay crush on him- he wouldn’t be as dick-ish to him. He’d still be a complete asshole, but he’d have moments. And those moments are what reader keeps remembering

Idk really know what I wrote. I just really feel like Billy was screwed over. They had a chance to really pull another Steve, give a shitty character a good character development, but they kinda did it- only to kill him (and before people come at me, I hated s1 Steve a bit. But he redeemed himself, ya know)

First time you interacted with Billy was at Byers house. The night he beat Steve up and you high tailed outta there with his car- Max driving.

~~The second time... you’re alone at the video store. Picking some stupid movie to watch as you did homework. He walked in, an air of calmness about him. His hands deep in his jacket pockets, the white shirt underneath hardly buttoned. His hair hardly styled at all- you assumed anyway.

He languidly walked to the horror section, meaning his standing opposite you, flipping through the VHS covers with a laziness of movement. He doesn’t even look at you or even realise you’re there. Does he even care? Probably, not. Max said he’s pretty much not talked to her, but they seem to be on mutual playing fields.

“Tammy loves horrors,” you find yourself speaking up but your eyes cast at the trashy romance movies in front of you, you can feel his stare. “She’s the one you’re seducing tonight, right?”

He scoffs, “what’s it to you?” His voice is deep with his demand of an answer.

“She’ll completely ignore your advances if you pick a horror, trust me. I grew up with Tammy, the girl is a horror junkey.” You pluck a movie, making show of turning it to read the summary on the back.

There’s a silence and you think he’s wondered off, steering clear of your weirdo self.

“What would you suggest then, Byers?” You look up in time to see him cock an eyebrow, his head nodding for you to go ahead and make his night.

You turn around abruptly and walk towards the action section, Billy hot on your tail.

“Oh, there he goes,” Arms crossed across his broad chest; amused by this. He watched as you pick up a movie, First Blood.

“She hates action, she’ll get bored and likely make the first move,” you watch as he frowns with your choice. “Don’t Like First Blood?”

“Love it,” that surprises you. “Snuck into the theatre to see it when it came out,” he takes the movie from you and flashes a grin. “Thought you were queer, and hated me.”

Statement not entirely false. You look away because that seems to be the news, you’re gay and that means clearly there’s something adherently wrong with you. You disliked Billy, yes. He’s an asshole, especially to your friends.

“Uh-I guess, I’m feeling super gay enough to help you out,” you shrugged and expected him to leave, but he laughed.

“I appreciate the insider knowledge, especially if it gets me laid, Byers,” he pays your shoulder a little too roughly but you smile slightly. “If you’ve screwed me over though, Imma beat you up worse than I did to Harrington.” ~~

You’re staring blankly at the empty action aisle. Your eyes emotionless, body slack and complacent. You didn’t know how long you’d be off in your own little world, long enough to get Steve and Robin concerned, both watching as you blink out of your trance.

“Y/N, bro, you okay?” Robin calls and you look at her, nodding quickly and walking over to the duo. “Been staring at that crappy Rambo movie for a good ten minutes,” she tilts her head.

“First Blood isn’t crappy,” you defend a little harshly, Steve raises his eyebrows, “uh-sorry. I’m feeling a little tired, I’ll see you later,” you softly touch Steve’s shoulder before exiting.

You get into your car and start it up, a deep sigh leaving your body.

It had been two months since that night. The night you battled the Mind Flayer, the night Eleven (and you) got to Billy, finally, only it was all in vain. At least, he was himself when he died but he shouldn’t have died anyway.

You stop at a red light, almost home.

“Byers,” you look up from the drivers window to see Hargrove stepping to you, smirk settled on his pretty face, “I owe you one.”

You frowned, eyebrow raising at his cocky smile. Only it fades when he leans down, resting an arm on top of you car, his face at level with your own. You short circuit cause, woah, his eyes are that blue. His earring dangles as he tilts his head, a smirk pulling up the right side of his mouth.

“Wow,” you’re snapped outta your daze, “you’re such a fag.” He taps the roof and raises his eyebrows in a mocking expression, “just wanted to tell ya it worked, got into Tammy’s pants last night. But clearly you’re getting some gay boner over me,” he chuckles when you scoff, rolling your eyes.

You sighed a little, “You’re welcome, Billy. Glad I got you laid,” he smiled brightly at that. “Betta get going before everyone at schools think you’re gay too, cause that’s how it works- clearly.”

Billy stopped you, “Ohh, no, you’re not getting off that easy. I’ve scored a date with Stacey... Dw-“ he stops himself to think and you raise your eyebrows, “she’s got really big boobs and, I think, blonde hair.”

“You think?” You chuckled as he shrugged, “sounds like Jessica Randell,” he nodded, clicking his fingers because it sounded familiar to him, “I swear, what girls see in you, I don’t know, you’re impossible.” ~~

A car honking draws you from the memory, you quickly start your car back up, signalling an apology before driving home.

You laid down on your bed, room half packed up and memories all boxed away. Except one. The red lifeguard cap, sitting aimlessly on top a pile of clothes. It sparked interactions you had forgotten, willed yourself to not dwell on, only because it’s what sparked... a weird thing between you Hargrove, an unspoken thing. Working that summer job, with Billy, was singularly the best decision you ever had.

~~He walked with such an air of confidence you forgot to get down from the lifeguard chair. The whistle was carelessly drapped around his neck, swaying with each precise step he took.

Everyone noticed him. Girls watched with seductive eyes - even mums, kind of disturbing but you didn’t dwell on it- guys watched from afar, either willing to be him or loathing him.

Working this job has been kind to Billy. It gave him the ability to rule all, to assert his dominance across the swimming civilians. It allowed him to have attention, something you’ve realised he craves, a lot. He likes people looking at him. He also got a nice tan, plus he was allowed to use the gym within the building for free, so he really toned up.

“You know,” his voice snaps you back, “I was grossed out by your staring for a while but it’s growing on me.”

You quickly step down, cheeks and body warming up at being caught, plus his words. You can’t look at him, even through his aviators you can feel his smug stare.

“Do me a favour?” He leaned against the chair, crossing his arms as does, “go get me a bottled water?” His smile is infectious, too.

You nod silently and walk off towards the vending machine, passing the lounging mothers who are bidding for Billy’s attention. You turn to see who he’s picked today, his up in the chair, glasses on his head but he’s watching you like a hawk.

Almost tripping into the building you run to the machine, grabbing the loose change in your trunk pocket and shakily punching the buttons for his water. Why are you acting this way over him? It’s Billy Hargrove. You have no chance. Doesn’t mean you can’t admire and crush on him. **

In the locker rooms, as the other staff leave. You’re left alone with your thoughts. Only half dressed you can’t find it within yourself to actually get up and Leave.

“Byers,” Billy’s unsurprised voice makes you jump, you look up to see Billy in a towel as he walks passed you to his own.

This past week working alongside had been... weird. The comments, the looks, the weird attention he gave you. It was like he was messing with you, only it felt very serious and... flirty.

“I think,” you begin, “I might quit.” You don’t know why you tell him your plan, you look up to gage his reaction. He stops and looks at you.

“Gonna leave me?” Be fakes being wounded by your confession, but eyes give him away, he’s hurt by this news- maybe it’s because you’re actually friends with him. You go to speak but he stops you, “let me guess, to work at Scoops Ahoy?”

Venom laces his words. For the first time, in a long time, this is the Billy everyone knows making an appearance to you. He dislikes people walking out on him, leaving him first. He prefers to be the one to leave, you don’t know why and you’ve come to terms with the fact you’ll never really know him.

“Work alongside Steve Harrington, right?” He steps to you, you stand up and shake your head, “Don’t lie, Y/N, I know you’ve got some fucked up crush on him. I saw how you acted when he came by yesterday,” so he is watching you.

“...I’ll stay,” you mutter, “if you want me to.”

His breathing his rapid. Making his shoulders move up and down with his intakes and exhales, his nostrils flare and he frowns. He looks away, confusion and worry etching on his face... he’s scared.

“It’s okay,” you mumble, “besides... be a fool to give up this job,” he looks at you, “I mean, get paid to see you shirtless. Kinda a win, right?” You nod once, an affirmation of understanding.

You both dress in silence. Not looking at one another due to what just happened, he may have not outright said it but you got it. He doesn’t want you to quit, or leave him, he may not know why... but you do. And you’re not gonna pressure him because it’s Billy, he still likes girls; you’re just some weird exception.

You glance at Billy, who is pulling on his jacket and not looking at you. Clearly having a mental battle of his own, you feel slightly guilty for putting him in there. Turning to the door, you sling your bag over your shoulder and grab the handle.

Then your slammed against it, pulled to face Billy. The air being slammed out of you, you barley have time to comprehend what’s happening before you feel lips on yours. They’re soft but dominant. The kiss radiates a lot of pent up emotions, it’s full of hatred passion, yet it’s nice.

His hands are pulling you to him, gripping the lapels of your jacket, your own are just softly holding his shoulders. He tilts your head up a bit, deepening the kiss and you taste mint- peppermint bubblegum to be exact. ~~

“Boys!?” Your mother calls loudly, shutting the front door. You don’t answer straight away, you will yourself up and towards the kitchen, “Oh, there he is. I haven’t seen you since yesterday morning-“

Her voice becomes faint to you as you stand staring at something on the table. Eyes unable to not look at it, they tear up because you had been searching for it.

“Where did you find that?” You choked out, Joyce looks at you and then to the table.

Motel 6 key lays casually on top. Door number 106, motel a few miles away from Brimbone Steel Warehouse.

“Oh, it was in that tattered up jacket of yours,” she studies you for a moment. You nod, a faint “Oh” leaving you. “...wanna talk about it?” Voice soft.

~~ “Leaving so soon?” You look up, a smile gracing your face as Billy saunters up to you.

You hadn’t talked about the kiss, well, kisses. Heavy make out sessions would be accurate, they’re always late at night. Secluded areas where no one can see you, often a few days between because Billy will kiss you but leave, won’t talk to you for a while- ends up talking to some girl at the pool- but comes back.

“Uh-Gotta pick up Will, take him to the mall,” you make show of grabbing your keys from your pocket. “See you tomorrow?” You step away but Billy grabs your forearm.

He steers you seat from prying eyes to a closet, you chuckle into the darkness about to make some stupid comment but lips are slotted over yours. Shutting you up.

Another set of keys is placed into your other hand, you pull away and look down in confusion before at Billy.

“I’ll see you tonight. Ten o’clock, don’t be late,” he pushes away from you before leaving the closet- not casting a look back. Your heart is beating rapidly cause you know what this means, and you’re nervous but excited. ~~

Your mother holds you as you cry into her shoulder, holding the key in your hand. The last day Billy was... Billy, he hadn’t shown up at the motel 6, you figured he changed his mind. You didn’t blame because, well, you weren’t anything special to him. Some weird game or phase, you didnt really care or minded. You don’t hear the front door open or feel the few stares at you.

“Sometimes... I think he’s still here,” you whisper. “I keep seeing him everywhere I look, I want to forget because I know- I know I didn’t matter to him, but-“ you break off and pull away.

“It’s okay,” you shake your head at her words, “he was your... friend, you’re gonna miss him.”

You sighed, finally seeing Max and Eleven watching you. A faint understanding of who you’re talking about, heck, apparently you were a significant memory in Billy’s life- so El says. You want to believe her, even if you did help Billy in his last moments, but you know, deep down, it was just a summer fling.

“I just want to leave this town,” you mutter.

Eleven watches you slink off to your room. The door closing softly.

~~ “Billy, look at me,” he blinks up from Eleven to you, tears running down his face as he holds Eleven under him.

Half himself, half the Mind Flayer still. His face tells you he wants to break free, his body and hands are still under its spell.

“Remember that day, at the video store?” Mike and Max tilt their head in confusion, “and I helped you pick a movie to bore Tammy into having sex with you? I like to think that was the start of our friendship,” you somehow chuckle despite the situation, Eleven glances from you to Billy, his hands softening enough for her to wiggle free. “Then I spent almost three hours with you, planning a date for Jessica- only she bailed, so we went to the arcade and you stole those kids tickets and I beat the high score on Mind Tricks.”

The noises around you becomes nothing as Billy stands, he’s panting and looking confused, yet terrified. Finally, he looks at you, blinking a few times.

“I bailed on Jessica,” he stutters out and you choke a little, “I bailed on her.” Is all he says before he faces the Mind Flayer. ~~

Your door opens and you see the girls, smiling softly at you. You raise an eyebrow at them, you hadn’t talked about that night with anyone. It was an unspoken request that no one brought up Billy around you, especially Max. You didn’t want them to ask about it because you don’t have answers, you just know that, you and Billy, had this unspoken connection- relationship- friendship- whatever it was.

Sometimes you get the feeling that if you never took that summer job... he’d still be alive.

“Wanna watch Back to The Future?” El asks with a soft smile.

(Check out my Steve Harrington fic HERE, let me know what you think also)

#stranger things one shot #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #billy hargove x reader #billy hargrove x male!reader #billy hargrove x male reader #billy hargrove x you #billy hargrove x y/n #billy hargrove one shot #billy hargrove imagine

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fanficshiddles · 5 years

Text

His ray of sunshine, Chapter 6

Keira was happy now she had a brand-new sketchbook. Whilst she had lost some of her older work, it wasn’t all bad. Considering there hadn’t been much and the only sketches she did have was from back in the city.

Now she could just start again with all the beautiful scenery there was out in the countryside.

Lucy was kept pretty much held up inside the cabin for the rest of the duration of her stay. She knew she had majorly messed up pushing Keira into the lake.

One dinner time, they were all eating down on the decking again. Apart from Lucy, who was still banished to the cabin. They took turns watching her, so it wasn’t just one member of the pack that was stuck with her all the time.

‘Just two more sleeps before you can claim Keira for your own.’ Michael said to Tom while they ate.

Tom nodded and looked over at Keira, she was sitting with Jeremy and Luke. Tom smiled fondly at her. He couldn’t wait to have her as his omega. To have her living in his cabin with him.

He watched her conversing with the other two Alphas, they made her laugh and Tom was totally hooked as he watched her. Her laugh was the most beautiful sound, so carefree and genuine. It didn’t seem like there was a bad bone in her body at all.

Luke and Jeremy started bickering with one another, making everyone laugh.

Aside from Ben, he had his eyes on Keira too. Tom wasn’t the only one watching her. And Idris noticed this.

‘Ben.’ He called to get the Alpha’s attention. Ben turned to face him. ‘It’s your turn to go and watch Lucy for a while.’

Ben did not look pleased at all, but he didn’t argue and went up to the spare cabin.

‘I wonder when he is going to challenge Tom.’ Michael asked the group.

Keira looked confused.

‘It’s no secret that Ben has his eyes on you, too. He can challenge Tom for you at any time.’ Tilda explained to her.

‘Oh.’ Keira said sadly and Tom caught her eye.

He smiled at her softly. ‘Don’t worry. Ben doesn’t stand a chance.’

‘Yeah, look at these guns!’ Luke rushed over to Tom and held his arm up, squeezing his bicep.

‘Get off!’ Tom pulled his arm away, chuckling slightly.

‘Tom is the strongest known Alpha in the country. Ben is foolish for even thinking about challenging him.’ Idris said.

Jessica returned and fell onto a seat with a sigh.

‘What’s wrong?’ Michael asked, putting his hand on her knee.

‘Lucy is… un-bearable.’

‘What is she doing now?’ Tom asked with a sigh, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

Lucy had been causing some trouble in the cabin. Constantly trying to get out, just making it difficult in general.

‘She tried to climb out the window in the bathroom. We need to put a bloody leash on her!’

Tom shook his head in despair. ‘The sooner Saturday comes around, the better.’

The following day, everyone could clearly smell a high level of testosterone coming from Ben’s cabin.

‘I think today is going to be the day.’ Jessica told Keira over breakfast.

Keira felt her stomach swirl in slight fear. She didn’t want Tom to get hurt, even though she knew that he was really strong. It was still worrying. What if Ben by some miracle actually won? The vibes she got from him, she really didn’t want to be his omega.

They’d not long finished breakfast when they heard Ben shouting from outside in the middle of the green. Going out to investigate, they saw Ben stood in the middle with his shirt off. He was shouting for Tom.

‘TOM! COME ON OUT HERE! I CHALLENGE YOU FOR LEADERSHIP AND OWNERSHIP OVER THE OMEGA!’ He shouted.

Everyone else emerged from their cabins first, aside from Lucy, and they all walked to the green, Keira wasn’t really sure what to do. So she stuck by Jessica and Tilda.

The pack gathered at the top of the green, on front of Tom’s cabin. Showing they were on his side, not Ben’s.

When the door to Tom’s cabin opened, Keira looked and gasped. He was topless too. Having heard the call from Ben, he was prepared.

Keira was really able to see just how strong he was. His clothing was rather deceptive. He had all the right muscles in all the right places. Her mouth was watering and her hormones ran into overdrive.

Tom walked down the steps towards them all. Keira copied the pack when they bowed their head in respect to their Alpha leader.

He walked down past them, eyes locked on Ben. He stopped a few metres away from him.

‘Are you sure you want to do this, Ben?’ Tom asked.

‘Yes. For leadership of the pack… and for the omega.’ He growled low, eyes looking over Tom’s shoulder at Keira.

Keira felt scared, really scared. She huddled in against Tilda’s side and Tilda slipped her arm around her for comfort.

Tom looked round slowly and looked at Keira, his heart melting upon seeing the worry. He then turned back to Ben.

‘Very well.’ Tom agreed, holding his head high.

‘Let’s get on with this.’ Ben snarled.

Tom took a deep breath, then he took a few steps closer. Ben did the same.

Idris went down and stood at their sides.

‘You both know the rules. Fight to the death, or until one surrenders. Whoever wins, shall win leadership of the pack and Keira, the omega.’ Idris announced loudly.

Tom and Ben both bowed their heads towards one another, signalling the understanding of a fair fight. Idris gave the signal and told them to start. He’d barely moved back out of the way when Ben ran in towards Tom, aiming a punch.

Tom ducked and swung his leg out, knocking Ben off his feet to the ground. He attempted to get up quick, but Tom punched him square in the jaw that knocked him down again. Then Tom pounced on top of Ben and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind him painfully.

Ben quickly shouted that he surrendered, knowing he had absolutely no chance at all. To the relief of the rest of the pack, who started cheering.

Keira was in utter shock at how quickly and easily Tom was able to take Ben down. She had been expecting some fight that was going to last ages.

The rest of the pack didn’t look even remotely surprised. All of them knowing that Ben didn’t stand a chance. Even though he had been trying to work out every day since Keira arrived, to prepare for the fight. But he didn’t have long enough, there was no way to get the body prepared in such a short amount of time.

Tom stood and it took a few minutes before Ben got up to his feet. He spat to the side, spitting blood. Then he wiped his mouth and glared at Tom.

‘You know the rules, Ben.’ Michael called out. ‘Get your things and get the hell outta here.’ He snarled.

Tom stayed silent, just staring back at Ben. Waiting in-case he decided to try and pull anything else as a surprise attack. Even though it wasn’t lawfully allowed. It wouldn’t be the first time Ben tried to do something illegal.

‘Oh, so we are abiding by the rules, are we?’ Ben sneered and looked over the pack.

‘Enough, Ben.’ Tom growled having a feeling he knew where this was going.

‘Why don’t we get the authorities here anyway, they can oversee another fight. And also investigate the little matter of unlawfulness happening in the pack while they are here.’ He said, looking at Jeremy and Luke with a wicked smirk.

Tom didn’t bat an eyelid, even if Jeremy and Luke did share a worried look.

‘Yeah? Go ahead and call them then. I am sure they would love to hear all about Chantelle.’

Ben’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘Yes, Ben. I know all about her. Did you really think I didn’t do a background check on you before allowing you to join my pack? I thought giving you a chance to redeem yourself was worth the risk… Evidently, I was wrong.’ Tom said with a clenched jaw.

The rest of the pack looked slightly confused, not knowing what he was on about. Apart from Michael, who knew exactly what Tom meant.

Ben glared at Tom and then the rest of the pack, who were obviously backing Tom one hundred percent.

‘Fine.’ He snarled and wiped his mouth, then he turned and went to go pack his things.

Keira was still in shock and complete confusion at what the hell had just happened. But also her body went into overdrive for want over Tom now. Two Alphas fighting for an omega often did that to the body, especially when she was already into the winner…

When Tom turned and walked to the rest of the pack, everyone started cheering.

‘Knew he wouldn’t stand a chance, mate.’ Michael chuckled and patted Tom on the back.

‘Still surprising how quickly you took him out, you’ve clearly been working out harder than ever!’ Jessica said.

‘It’s best to be prepared, always.’ Tom looked at Keira. He went over to her, and could sense her heartbeat racing. He could also smell the slight arousal pheromones coming from her.

He reached out and cupped her face, his thumb brushing across her bright red cheek.

‘One more night, little one.’ Tom smiled and Keira smiled brightly back at him.

Tom went back to his cabin to shower, the rest of the pack also went to do their own thing too.

‘What was that about, when Ben said about something illegal going on?’ Keira asked Jessica.

‘Nothing you need to worry about, I promise.’ Jessica assured her with a smile.

Keira nodded, not wanting to be nosey and push for more information. She trusted her new pack.

‘I don’t know what information Tom has on Ben though. But whatever it is, it must be serious if it was enough to make Ben back down the way he did.’ Jessica said. ‘Anyway, why don’t you get all your things packed so that you’re sorted for moving in with Tom tomorrow?’

‘Oh, yeah. I forgot about that!’ Keira rushed through to her room to pack everything.

She wasn’t really sure what to expect with moving in with Tom tomorrow. What it would be like being alone with him too… She had not really been alone with him yet as such, aside from the morning run they had once. But to be in his own personal space twenty-four seven with him.

It was going to be something else entirely.

#his ray of sunshine #fan fiction #tom hiddleston #omegaverse #alpha/omega

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harry-lloyd · 4 years

Link

In many ways, the horrible wig was the best thing to happen to Harry Lloyd.

The shock of platinum blonde hair, slashed to a sensible bob at his shoulders like a high-fashion Legolas, was the coif that tied Lloyd’s indelible, insufferable Game of Thrones character together: Viserys Targaryen, the petulant narcissist whose play for the Iron Throne melts along with the rest of him under a pot of molten metal poured over his head, one of the show’s first and most iconic gruesome death scenes.

The splashy HBO production was the biggest job the young actor had ever landed, and as a character with an unmistakable, unforgettable look, to boot— the better to sear into TV fans’ consciousness.

Blessedly, that unmistakable, unforgettable look in no way actually resembled him, a then-27-year-old rising star with short, dark brown hair and alabaster complexion. He played one of the most memorable characters in recent TV history on possibly the last truly massive global TV phenomenon, yet, by the grace of a wig, he was still unrecognizable.

“I kind of loved that,” Lloyd tells The Daily Beast over Zoom from the loft study in his North London home. “And I kind of loved that he died. He had this lovely arc, and he still has his place in this enormous and infamous canon.”

Given how vivid that arc is in Thrones lore, it’s almost startling to remember that he was only on five episodes of the show.

“I had my go,” he says. “I got in early and I got out early. And he didn’t look like me, which, number one, is good because he is a little shit. And so I was happy to not have people throwing stuff at me in the streets. But number two, and I didn’t notice at the time, but it has since become the biggest show on TV. It doesn’t make me worry about being typecast so much.”

In the years since becoming a scalded puddle of boiling jewels and flesh, Lloyd has been able to shapeshift through an impressive résumé of prestige TV series and award-nominated films—Manhattan, Wolf Hall, Counterpart, Legion, The Theory of Everything—relieved of the kind of limitations actors who play little shits in garish white wigs on TV’s biggest show typically shoulder.

The occasion for our conversation is yet another transformation, as Bernard Marx in Brave New World, the splashy adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s 1932 dystopian sci-fi novel. The series is the marquee original offering for Wednesday’s launch of the new Peacock streaming service, casting Downton Abbey alum Jessica Brown Findlay and Han Solo himself, Alden Ehrenreich, alongside Lloyd in an updated take on the classic work.

Brave New World thwarts the idea of a restrictive, Orwellian dystopia with one in which society is instead forced into surrendering their inhibitions. “Welcome to New London,” a prologue explains. “We have three rules. No privacy. No family. No monogamy. Everyone is very happy.”

The new series boasts modernized flourishes when it comes to style—if there had been this much sex in Huxley’s book, we would have paid far more attention to it in high school—and sensibility; some of the problematically racist and misogynistic themes and plot points have been corrected.

Lloyd’s Bernard is an upper echelon member of society, called an Alpha-Plus, whose job is to maintain social order. Throughout the series, he experiences a crisis of conscience, an existential awakening at odds with the blissful stasis he’s meant to both control and enjoy.

If a narrow escape from typecasting and a career playing snooty, megalomaniacal manchildren has meant a diverse array of opportunity for Lloyd, then Brave New World marks more new territory: It’s his first outright leading role.

Lloyd had never read Huxley’s book before being cast, but was impressed by the ambition of the script, “almost like a mega tentpole movie in scale” but esoteric and satirical at the same time. “I was like, this has the whole package if they can shoot this, but I don’t think they can.”

It took one day on set for him to catch wise to the technical prowess at play. “I was like, wow, this really is a brave new world,” he says.

Don’t worry. He promptly scoffed at himself and rolled his eyes.

It is one of the best opening lines to a profile that I’ve read, from a 2011 feature on Lloyd that ran in Britain’s The Independent: “There was a time when Harry Lloyd worried that he was forever going to be typecast—as a woman.”

It was in reference to Lloyd’s days as a student at Eton College, where the young teen’s voice had not yet broken and he was cast as women in a slew of all-male Shakespeare productions.

Here we were prepping to engage with Lloyd about the perils of typecasting following his Thrones stint, ignorant of the fact that he had already confronted the issue decades earlier.

Lloyd laughs good-naturedly when the era of fake bras and bonnets is brought up.

“I hated it,” he says. Just when he had vowed never to agree to it again, in his last year at school he was asked to play Rosalind in As You Like It, by all counts a fantastic leading part. He nailed it, and earned raves. “At an all-boys boarding school, it took balls to put on tights, as it was.” A perfectly-earned smirk at his own joke follows.

The truth is that being typecast or pigeon-holed is a stressor that followed Lloyd, who grew up in London with parents who worked in the book industry. “Sometimes it’s just the face you have at a certain age…” he says.

His first major role came at age 15 in the BBC’s 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield, opposite Daniel Radcliffe. (Adding another fascinating layer to the trivia: Lloyd himself is the great-great-great grandson of Charles Dickens.) One of his first jobs after that was playing a bullying prefect in the series Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

“I guess that’s what I looked like, and I did that a couple of times,” he says. “Then I was like, I don’t really want to just be that guy. He’s a bit of a dick. And then I think next up I played the murderer in some procedural police thing, some young kid that’s gone sideways.”

Each time he felt a box starting to close its sides around him, he actively sought out something different. Having Great Expectations, in which he played Herbert Pocket, “the loveliest, most benign chap you’d ever meet,” air months after his Thrones debut was key. But he can’t refute that, with or without a platinum wig, there’s something about the way he looks that telegraphs a certain kind of sinister character.

“If I turn up in a murder thing, it’s often me who’s done it,” he says, grinning. “I don’t want to give anything away from the stuff I’ve been in. But I don’t know, there’s something about my face that is like, ‘He could do it.’”

After he had finished filming his part on Thrones and the series was about to come out, he was cast in the buzzy West End production of the Tony-winning play The Little Dog Laughed.

If you’re familiar with the work, a satire about Hollywood illusion (and delusion) in which an acerbic, big-wig agent crisis manages her rising-star client’s pesky “recurring case of homosexuality,” you understand why it’s a fairly hilarious, if sobering, project to be involved in just as an actor’s own fame and industry profile is about to skyrocket.

“Because I was about to be on Game of Thrones, I thought, this is the time for me to get an American agent,” he recalls. “And so the American agents, when they were in London, would come and see me in this play, which basically looks at agenting and their ways with quite a big, angry magnifying glass. They would come backstage and say, ‘Look, I am not like that…’” He laughs. “It was always quite a funny way to start the proceedings.”

Having starred in episodes of Dr. Who and played Charles Xavier in Legion, not to mention his connection to Thrones, Lloyd has had his taste of the particular brand of rabid, Comic-Con fandom. Though he prefers to classify himself as “adjacent-adjacent” to that world.

While there are certainly those who will know right away that he was a Targaryen, what he gets more of is a “Wait, how do I know you?” awkward conversation. “Genuinely, people are like, ‘Hey, did I go to school with you?’ I’m at that level of renown. You can’t quite place why you might recognize me.”

Asked how life under the coronavirus shutdown has been, Lloyd is very British about the months spent with his wife and their almost-2-year-old. “We’ve done alright,” he says. “We learned how to finally kind of plan our fridge. And now we know how to do our shopping tactically. We cooked some good stuff.”

For fear of sounding “solipsistic,” to use a word employed often in Brave New World, he identifies the extended time home with typical feelings actors have throughout their career.

“You have accelerated times in your life when things happen like a dream,” he says. “Things are so fast and our whole world’s rebuilt entirely every time you get a job. And then is the come-down and the fallout.”

He remembers that feeling from when he was doing plays: the energy and pace of putting on the show, and then a few weeks after it ends there’s a massive crash.

“It feels a bit like you’re in lockdown. You stare around on a Tuesday afternoon. You don’t want to watch anything. You don’t know what to do or who to call, and you kind of lose your style. There’s been a bit of that.”

Just when things got to the point that he felt like he might lose his mind, he was contracted to record an audiobook. So for a couple of days a week, he would sit up in his “sweatbox made out of duvets” and read Great Expectations aloud for Penguin. “That saved me for sure.”

On the subject of works by his great-great-great grandfather, Lloyd used to be at a loss for what to do when people brought it up. Often they would say, “Congratulations!” on the relation, as if he had accomplished something himself by being born into Charles Dickens’ lineage. “But these days, I’ll take it, I’ve decided. ‘Yeah, thank you so much.’ It’s a nice thing to celebrate.”

The 150th anniversary of Dickens’ death was in June. There had been plans for a commemoration ceremony at Westminster Abbey that, because of the shutdown, became a Zoom event instead.

“I don’t know how many people’s deaths get a 150th anniversary,” he says. “The fact that I have any kind of personal connection with that is very much secondary. But something that I’m very proud of.”

At risk of belaboring the point, we ask if working on any of the Dickens adaptations he’s starred in on TV or recording this audiobook makes Lloyd feel any sort of profound or poignant connection to him.

He laughs. “I can’t point to a physical sensation like hairs in the back of my neck standing. ‘I feel him. It’s me and Chucky D in the room right now.’”

#harry lloyd #interview

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o-neillwith2ls · 4 years

Text

And neither should you

Prompt number: 22

Fandom: Stargate SG-1

Rating: G

Warning: None

“Jack!” Sara smiled as her ex-husband approached her and her now husband. They stood up to greet him. Sara leaned over the table for a moment while they embraced for a second.

“Sara.” He softly as they parted. “Oscar.” Jack smiled, as they shook hands. “How are you doing?” Jack asked.

“I’m good, Jack.” He smiled. Theirs was an unusual relationship, Oscar acknowledged, with the current husband getting along with the wife’s ex-husband. He knew the divorce hadn’t been because of the lack of love in the relationship. Lack of communication, maybe, and a heart-breaking life-changing event which changed his now wife and her ex-husband for the rest of their lives and shattered their marriage. Now, their relationship was one of friends who were once lovers, sharing a tragic moment, but somehow now the relationship gave them both peace. To be honest, Oscar liked Jack; he was funny.

“How’s the little one?” Jack asked. “Jessica?”

“She’s great.” Sara smiled, as they sat down. “Five years old and sassy as hell!” She told him.

“Five!” Jack smiled, shaking his head. “Is she a princessy kinda gal?” he asked.

“More like ‘code name: kids next door’ kind of gal.” Oscar smiled.

Jack looked confused before Sara explained “It's a cartoon where kids challenge the adults to get what they want to do.” She smiled at the television programming that kids were watching nowadays.

“Anarchy.” Jack smiled. “Sounds like my kind of gal!” he chuckled.

“You should drop by and see her again.” Oscar offered. “You haven’t been to the house since she was a baby.”

Jack nodded, more out of politeness. He could stand Oscar, most the time, but honestly walking into their house, seeing the life they built together, had always twisted at his stomach in the wrong way.

He was happy for Sara. Honestly, he was, but it only served to remind him what he had lost. Hence why he preferred to meet on neutral ground, like a bowling alley. But now, he knew that discomfort was in his distant past.

"How are you, Jack?” Sara asked him, knowing how hard that line of conversation must be for him.

Jack broke into a wide smile which was unexpected by the other two. “Pretty damn fantastic.” He nodded. “I have to introduce you to someone.” He told them. Jack turned and scanned the room. This made Sara and Oscar look at each other confused for a moment before they saw Jack’s hand beckoning over someone. They both stood up in curiosity.

They could see someone approaching their table. And Sara’s mouth almost dropped at the beauty in blue walking towards them. The first thing Sara noticed were her eyes.

Big blue and round and full of anticipation, she looked first at Sara and her husband before she looked to Jack where they relaxed a little upon landing on him. Even so, she still nervously approached. As she neared Jack, she flashed Jack a dazzling smile which he returned. Her blond hair was almost a short bob in style, but very choppy in style. She reminded Sara of a pixie, somehow with her cute nose, slim build, and youthful looks.

‘In fact, very youthful,’ Sarah thought to herself. For a fleeting moment, she felt jealous, but that moment passed quickly. Their lives had moved on and there was no attraction from the other party.

“Sara, Oscar.” Jack smiled, putting his arm around the woman proudly, something which made Sara’s eyes almost pop out of her head. Jack never liked to display affection in public before. “I’d like you to meet my wife, Sam.”

Sara looked between the two, almost in awe herself at the sight! He’d said her name with such reverence and the looks he was giving her! He looked at her with genuine smile on his face, as if she was the only one in the room, his lips kissing her briefly first on the lips then when they moved back slightly, he stole a quick kiss on her neck before smiling even wider. The look he gave her! Sara forgot that look, the one where Jack utterly adored someone, but then there was something more to the look they gave each other.

“Hi.” Sam managed, obviously nervous of the situation, turning her attention to Sara, her eyes twinkling as she gave her wide smile.

Oscar managed to break the silence first. “Wife! Oh, wow, Jack!” He exclaimed, reaching over to shake his hand. “Congratulations!” he said.

“Thanks.” Jack smiled happily. It was only then Sara saw the golden band around Jack’s fourth finger on his left hand. Had that been there all along? “Sara?” he asked her nervously, conscious of her silent reaction.

“Married?” Sara whispered, shocked. She wasn’t expecting him to move on.

“Yeah.” Jack confirmed, his heart racing inside wondering how Sara was going to react. Would it be different when she told Jack about marrying Oscar? Never in the eight years since they divorced had he even hinted at remarriage – no mention of dating either -- and now he was springing this on her. He hoped Sara wasn’t mad at him for not saying anything about Sam, but they did not make a conscious effort to call each other to share life stories. “It… kind of happened really fast.” He admitted.

Sara looked at Sam again almost inspecting her features. Sara could tell that Sam looked nervous, but there was something familiar about her.

“Have we met?” Sara asked her.

“Um, well, technically yes.” Sam managed.

“Sam was on my team seven and a half years ago when...”

“Oh!” Sarah exclaimed, knowing she couldn’t let Jack finish his sentence. Oscar didn’t know what had happened a matter of months before they met.

“Yeah.” Jack confirmed.

“Hold on. She’s your second, right?” Sara asked.

“Yeah.” Jack confirmed.

“I thought there was a rule to...” Sara started.

“No, no.” Jack shook his head. “No, um, there were changes. She’s not in my chain of command anymore.” He confirmed.

“Oh.” Sara said, surprised.

“Here, Jack,” Oscar said to him, trying to take away some tension from the group. “Come and help me get the drinks for the ladies.” He said, Jack nodded in acknowledgement before Oscar asked Sara, “Red Wine?” to which she nodded.

“Beer?” Jack nuzzled into Sam, remembering that Sara had loved a red wine to wind down with. It was always the most elitist wine too, very high society stuff which he used to tease her about before he’d settle with his beer. Oh yes, Sam was definitely on his level with alcohol.

“Several.” Sam nodded in jest. Jack smiled as he nodded and whispered something in her ear which seemed to relax the younger woman. When Oscar had rounded the table towards the bar. Jack let his hand drop from the back of Sam’s waist and approached the bar with Oscar.

“You got married fast.” Sara nodded, gesturing for Sam to take a seat while the men were getting drinks.

“Frat rules don’t apply when the General is based at The Pentagon and he’s out of your chain of command.” Sam answered as she sat down.

“General?” Sara asked, surprised.

Sam smiled. “Two stars.”

“Wow!” she gasped. “I didn’t know.”

“I can only imagine what you must think.” Sam said, biting back her worry. “We fell in love somewhere in those eight years I was under his command.” She admitted softly. “Don’t ask me when because I don’t know when it was, whether it was simultaneously with each other or if one of us fell for the other first, but it happened.” Sam sighed. “We never acted on those feelings, ever, in those years,” Sam stopped in thought. “Maybe we were a little close for a CO and a 2IC but admitting how we felt was impossible.” She shrugged. “There were glimmers, moments, really when the emotions were so high, when we really thought we could lose the other...” She shrugged. “The most we could have was a wanting look and a forbidden hug.”

Sara felt awful all of a sudden. Sam might be a bit young for Jack, but she could see right there in that moment that Sam’s feelings for her ex were deep and genuine. She was honestly happy that Jack had moved on. But a part of her was jealous that her place in his life was gone.

“But once we got together, we didn’t want to let go of this.” Sam said quietly, “And work would have got in the way all over again.” She said sadly. “We didn’t want this to end.” Sam admitted. “Ever.” She added softly on the end.

Sara swallowed at the women’s admission. She was clearly besotted. “You don’t know everything about him.” She warned her cautiously.

“Yes, I do.” The younger woman said confidently.

“Maybe about now, but not his classified work in the past.” Sara said, “He can’t share it with anyone. Not even with me. It was always a secret.”

“He didn’t – share it I mean,” Sam told her, “but I know.”

Sara looked shocked, surprised at the younger woman’s confidence. “Everything?” she questioned. “I thought even seconds didn’t know everything about their CO’s.”

“Most don’t,” Sam admitted, “but I’ve read his classified file.”

“How?” Sara asked shocked.

“I know how not to get caught.” Sam admitted but didn’t reveal how she knew. “Jack knows I know. I couldn’t keep that from him.”

Sara nodded. “So, he can tell you everything.” She said sadly.

Sam bit her lip. “But he knows he doesn’t need to.” She added. “I can know what happened without him breaking any rules or feeling as though he can’t tell me because of the classified status.”

Sara looked sad. “So you know everything. I mean he can share anything with you?” When Sam nodded, Sara suddenly reached out and put her hand was on top of Sam’s. Sam looked shocked at their hands. “You’ll take care of him, won’t you?” she asked Sam.

Sam smiled, knowing it was coming from the part of Sara’s heart which belonged to Jack. “Always.”

“Good.” Sara smiled, not knowing the full extent to the word ‘always’ between her ex and Sam. “So, you’re still military?”

“Yes.” Sam smiled, finally a conversation she was comfortable with.

“You were a captain the last time we met, yes?” Sara asked.

“Yeah, it was a little while ago.” Sam chuckled and nodded.

“Been promoted?” she asked.

“A couple of times.” Sam answered. “Lieutenant Colonel.”

“Wow!” Sara said, impressed. “Bit young, aren’t you?” she questioned, trying to see just how much younger Sam was to her husband.

Sam chuckled. “Nice way of finding out how much younger I am to Jack.” Sam acknowledged without malice. “I was born in sixty-eight.”

“Fifteen years!” Sara exclaimed, surprised. “Wow!”

“And, um, as for my promotions… well, this last one was down to him. You’ll have to ask him why.” Sam shrugged. “It was his first order of business when he was promoted to Brigadier.”

Sara nodded before she decided to ask Jack more later, “So, Lieutenant Colonel means you have at least a master's degree?” Sara asked her.

Sam smiled “PhD in theoretical physics.”

“Oh, so you’re a scientist on his team?”

“Oh no, she’s a kick ass officer to boot, too.” Jack said, coming back to the table and passing his wife a beer which she gratefully took, his arm dropping down on to her shoulder as he stood next to her.

“No?” Oscar asked, returning clearly more comfortable than before. “You look to...” the man paused seeing three pairs of eyes homed in on the almost sexist remark. “I mean....” Oscar continued before he paused and turned back completely. “You know what I’m not going to finish that sentence.” He said, shaking his head when both Sam and Jack’s serious faces turned to grins.

“I don’t look the type to be kick ass?” Sam asked, her best challenging authority voice on.

“She can take on and beat about 95% of the men in the SGC, that’s at least 50 men.” Jack admitted proudly, “Both in battle and on the mats.” He grinned.

Even Sara looked surprised at this. “But you’re tiny!”

“Yes, but she’d be mighty!” Jack said, still looking at his wife. Sara realized that Jack was as besotted as Sam. He had barely taken his eyes off Sam from when she entered the room, Sara was in the happy position of seeing the bar from where she was standing, peering over Sam’s shoulder she’d seen the smouldering looks Jack had been giving Sam from a distance.

“Well, I learned from the best.” Sam smiled.

Sara knew enough to read into that. Jack had trained her.

“You any good at pool?” Oscar asked Sam.

“Yousurebettcha.” Sam replied, the phrase not unfamiliar to Sara, his vocabulary had entered hers already... no, not already they’d known each other a long time, it had probably subconsciously entered into her vocabulary a long time ago.

“Game?” he asked her, to which Sam nodded. Both Oscar and Sam moved towards the pool table.

“She’s going to whoop his ass?” Sara asked Jack, gesturing that he sits down.

“Yousurebettcha.” He reflected Sam’s words with a smile, as he took a seat at the table where he can still watch the pool game.

Sara smiled pensively. “You’re happy.” She observed.

He nodded. “I thought when we split up and we lost Charlie, that was it, my chance of happiness gone.”

“You deserve happiness.” Sara smiled. “When I left you...” she said slowly, “I thought I couldn’t help you find it anymore.” She sighed heavily. “It hurt.”

“I was drowning, Sara.” He said quietly. “That program… it saved me.” He confessed. “Not just her, but she’s a big part of it.” With the words out of his mouth, they could hear Sam had started the game pocketing two balls in the action. Sara and Jack chuckled before Jack commented, “Ouch!” as he saw Oscar’s face fall.

Sara laughed. “She’s good.”

“It’s a game of physics.” Jack smiled happily. “She could tell you the whole theory behind it. She loves real life games of physics.”

“She says she’s an physicist?” Sara asked him.

“Yeah. An astrophysicist.” He said, his eyes not leaving Sam, watching her again easily pot another ball.

“Smart.” Sara said.

“Yup.” Jack said a smile Sara knew was his ‘I’m turned on but don’t want anyone to know’ smile.

“Young.” Sara commented, before Jack tore his eyes from his wife now looking at Sara.

“It doesn’t bother her.” Jack said to her.

“It bothers you?” Sara asked.

“I wonder what the hell she’s doing with a loser like me.” He admitted with a huge sigh something which made Sara look to him concerned. “Look at her, Sara, she’s stunning.”

Sara’s smile returned. “I noticed.”

“I learned very recently the effects of what would happen if I let Sam go.” He said, shaking his head. Sara looked confused as he told her. “She was engaged to someone else. We’d had unspoken feelings for so long, she finally thought she needed to let them go.” He told her softly. “I saw her fall for another man. I became angry, agitated. I withdrew inside myself; I didn’t want to carry on.”

“I know that man.” Sara argued. “But I’ve seen you during the past two years or so and you never let that man show. You hid it so well that I had no idea.”

“No one knew. Some people knew I was hurting but they didn’t draw attention to it.” He told her. “I just carried on like a good Colonel--” He took a drag of his beer.

“General.” She called him out a smile on her face.

“What?” he asked innocently.

“You can’t play that card with me Jack--” she said rolling her eyes “Two star General. Jack why did you not tell me?”

“It’s no big deal.” He shrugged.

“Its a huge deal and I’m proud of you.” she smiled “I bet those stars look good.”

Jack nodded and turned the conversation back “She called off her engagement after her father died. It wasn’t because he had died. She had figured out it just wasn’t going to work with the guy.”

“You hated him.” Sara observed.

“Of course, I did. He took away Sam.” Jack stated before chuckling. “I did try to hide it from her, pretended like I was okay with it all.” He took a deep breath in. “I thought the same as you. She was young. She deserves someone who could give her stability, support, love, children. At the time, I was in love with her but still her commanding officer. We couldn’t… I wouldn’t take it further.”

“It killed you.” Sara nodded.

“I know what you must think. What people must think. Me? I can’t believe how lucky I am.” He smiled as Sam pocketed another ball.

“How long have you loved her?” Sara asked him.

He shrugged. “Dunno.” He admitted. “I can’t remember...” He bit his lip and looked down quietly.

Sara smiled. “That’s what she said.”

“I can give her all that I am.” He said quietly.

Sara smiled sadly. A silence fell at the table, but she finally spoke. “I think about us, sometimes. We had a lot of good times, but it still hurts to think about them."

"Yeah."

"The good times see me though, but the bad hurts-- So I remember the good--remember I deserve to be happy and I try not to dwell there, in the dark and the pain--" She paused and looked him in the eyes. "And neither should you." She looked over at Sam at the pool table and then back to Jack. "Besides I'm one person who knows what it’s like to be married to Jack O’Neill. She is a very lucky woman."

Jack smiled and reached round and gave her a hug. "I love you, Sara." He whispered.

"I love you too, Jack. Congratulations."

Jack knew that their love for each other was now platonic, whose place was in the past with no place in the future. And they were content to leave it there.

“So I can give her some hints and tips about being your wife--” Sara said with a cheeky smile.

“Um---She’s doing a great--” Jack said confused.

“Oh I think I could tell her a thing or two.” Sarah grinned “about beer, a pink plastic flamingo and a telegraph pole.”

“Sara no!” he said clearly irked. “You wouldn’t--” she walked away towards the pool table “Sara--”

He smiled getting up, he knew his present and future laid with Sam. And there was nowhere else he rather be.

#fictober20 #fictober 2020 #stargate sg-1 #stargate sg1 #Jack O'Neill #samantha carter sg1 #sara o'neill

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enchantedbyhiddles · 5 years

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Tom Hiddleston smells amazing—overwhelmingly so—as I walk into his hotel room on the 10th floor of the Crosby Hotel in New York City. I can't quite pick out his cologne, but I later described it as "heaven" to everyone I know. "Hello! Tea?" he chirps in his charming British accent as he opens the door for me. Hiddleston has that kind of presence where it's hard to formulate words around him. "Ha ha, it's 4:20 on 4/20 and your fans are called Hiddlestoners," is the first thing I blurt out. I've been waiting to make that joke to him all day, but it falls flatter than I expected. He laughs to be polite, or maybe just out of pity.

The 35-year-old actor is wearing an exceptionally well-fitted blue suit that Wednesday afternoon and gray-framed glasses that add even more allure. Most actors turn out to be smaller in person, but Hiddleston's 6'2" frame—with seemingly mile-long legs—looks even more slender in person. While he's the epitome of dashing, his room is kind of a mess. Fed-Ex boxes are littered all over the place, suitcases are scattered, open, and half-stuffed with half-folded clothes. "Sorry, it's a mess," he apologizes as I navigate my way to the couch. "I'm packing up. I've been traveling for about 10 years." Hiddleston really has been all over the place lately. He's solidified himself in the Marvel Universe as Thor villain Loki (a role he will reprise in 2017's Thor: Ragnarok), just starred as Hank Williams in the biopic I Saw the Light, starred opposite Jessica Chastain in Guillermo del Toro's fantastical period horror Crimson Peak last year, plays a hotel manager-turned-spy in AMC's new TV series The Night Manager, and next year will appear in the new King Kong movie (Kong: Skull Island) with Oscar-winner Brie Larson. So yeah, he's got a lot on his plate.

When we talked, he was floating through Tribeca Film Festival to promote yet another new film of his, High-Rise, director Ben Wheatley's stylish dystopian adaptation of J.G. Ballard's 1975 novel. In the film, Hiddleston plays the middle-class Dr. Robert Laing, who lives in a society where the poor live on the lower levels of a high-rise building while the rich live on top. Laing gets caught in the middle of a class war with his neighbors, played by Sienna Miller, Elisabeth Moss, Luke Evans, and Jeremy Irons, who portrays the building's rich architect and penthouse resident. We talked plenty about High-Rise, but also about his famous Hiddlebum (which serves a symbolic purpose in High-Rise), his love for dancing, and the stomach-churning preparation he had to do for the movie.

You play a doctor in the film. The scene where you tear apart flesh from a skull was kind of hard to watch. You had some horrifying scenes in Crimson Peak as well. Do you get squeamish watching those scenes? No, but I got squeamish when I was doing my research. I actually attended an autopsy because I knew I was going to have to perform a dissection. I simply had no frame of reference and I wanted to do it properly. I didn't know how to make incisions, so I went to see a forensic pathologist who showed me how to do it, which was quite stomach-churning. But it was fascinating, listening to him talk about the biomechanics of our engineering. As human beings, we often forget that we are machines, made up of machine parts, and if certain things are broken then that will have an effect on our behavior.

I think that scene's a declaration of intent by Ben [Wheatley]. You see Dr. Laing peeling the facial tissue off her head to reveal the blood and the bones beneath. I think that's sort of what Ballard is doing to society. He's saying, "Let me take away the surface and show you the flesh and blood beneath."

Speaking of this movie and Crimson Peak, directors seem to love shooting your bare butt. I'm sure you know the nickname you've been given: Hiddlebum. It's there. [Points to butt.] And there it is.

It's an Internet sensation. It's one of those things that I've never really thought about because the nudity has always been part of the story and it's never felt gratuitous. It's always felt as if it's in service of something. In High-Rise, it's quite symbolic. Laing moves into the building to get away from the entanglements of real life. And the first thing he does in this new clean, clinical space is take all his clothes off and sunbathe. And within seconds, that peace and freedom is interrupted. And then he never takes his clothes off again. And that's in the novel. I felt it was kind of important, and honestly, you don't see anything more than you would see if I was just walking down the beach, so I didn't have a problem with it.

The party scenes in this movie are so intoxicating. Did the parties ever go on after the cameras stopped rolling? The parties were so fun because we would set them up and, of course, there's no real alcohol, but there is real music and Ben would put on music and we'd start dancing. The camera would stay rolling, and he would say, "Crazy, go crazy, dance more crazy, more crazy dancing." He would gently encourage everybody to get a little more wild, but there was something very safe about it.

We're all familiar with your amazing dancing skills. I've got to know if that dream sequence where you're dancing with those flight attendants was your idea. It actually was my idea. But it wasn't my idea to dance. We shot it at the end of our first day. We were due to wrap at 6 p.m. and at 5:45 they started doing that scene. These flight attendants were walking down the corridor and I was watching it and I said to Ben, "Do you think that Laing should be a participant in his own dream?" And he said, "Well, yeah, it'd be nice to have the option." I asked, "What do you think he should be doing? Is he walking in front of them or behind them?" And then he said, "He should be dancing with them." So we did it, and we did it once. We put on Sister Sledge's "Lost in Music" and we danced down the corridor. It was great.

Do you remember the first moment you fell in love with dancing? When I first danced ever?

Yeah, when did you discover the rhythm of your body? [Laughs.] I don't know, actually. I have a very happy memory. My mom used to play the piano for me and my older sister when we were very, very small, about 3 or 4. There was no furniture in the living room of the new house that we had moved into so my sister and I would dance around the living room. It's one of my earliest memories and it's a very happy one. I was just dancing to my mom playing the piano and she had these three things she used to play. And then beyond that, I don't remember dancing or enjoying dancing until I was about 15. I started to go out to parties and playing music and being introduced to girls and wanting to impress them.

If you're a good dancer, it's much easier to get girls... I couldn't possibly attest to that.

Please. [Laughs].

You do these stylistic British films and then you're Loki from the Marvel movies. Do you notice the different ways people receive you in different places? The Marvel films have an extraordinary reach. Loki is the most well-known character I've ever played. But when I was in Louisiana, people had seen me in Coriolauns onstage in London and people have already seen my new TV show, The Night Manager.

You're such a unique chameleon of an actor. I get huge pleasure from challenging myself and surprising an audience by doing different things. But that's partly because I think all human beings contain enormous range and complexity. We're capable of huge courage, and love, and kindness, but we're also capable of cruelty and inconsistency, and solitude and loneliness, and all these things that we all suffer as much as the next person. My pleasure is trying to express that.

Have you seen that Reductress article about yourself? It's a satirical women's site. I have to show you this article: "9 Times Tom Hiddleston Left You Breathless and Alone in the Woods." [Scrolls through phone, laughs.] Wow, is it good to leave someone breathless and alone in the woods? I feel like that's a very unkind thing to do to somebody.

#link #tom hiddleston #high rise #interview #high rise promo #can't remember seeing this #oldie but goldie

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chacusha · 4 years

Text

Trials of Mana remake liveblogging (4/...)

New game plus liveblogging. My new party is Charlotte, Kevin, Hawkeye.

This is my first time doing a real run-through with Charlotte as the main character. Her opening is unique among the main six because she doesn’t actually go to Jadd where the other five converge. The Meridian Child credit roll also doesn’t go over a sea voyage like it does with the other five because she’s already located in Wendel.

Having Charlotte and Hawkeye in the same party is pretty wild because Charlotte is the most immature of the six and Hawkeye is the most mature (Charlotte is also the shortest and Hawkeye the tallest, if I’m not mistaken -- yep, this confirms it). It definitely gives off the impression that Hawkeye is her babysitter rather than a teammate, lol.

Kevin is also pretty immature, but it’s a bit offset by the fact that he’s level 70-something and 1-jab KOing everything...

My partner is so amused by how everything Hawkeye says/does is accompanied by a model shot.

Finished up the last Li’l Cactus sightings. Li’l Cactus’s accessory and the Love of Mana chain ability are incredible. Makes it easy to speed through the dungeons.

I’m already at the Windstone and level 20-something due to the Love of Mana exp booster. So I upgraded Charlotte to Priestess (light), Kevin to Brawler (dark side this time -- with Charlotte, we won’t need his healing anyway), and Hawkeye to Ranger (light, since in the Collection of Mana playthrough I went dark).

Me: We should go light since we went dark last time. My partner: Ninja looks cooler, though... Me: I agree, that’s why we picked Ninja last time, lol. (But seriously, Hawkeye’s light classes look so dorky.)

That scene where Hawkeye rescues Riesz from Bil and Ben was very shippy.

Charlotte has the CUTEST reaction to being turned into a ghost.

There is also some very slight Charlotte/Kevin shippiness after being rescued by Vuscav where Kevin calls Vuscav cute and then Charlotte says Kevin needs glasses if he doesn’t think she’s a hundred times cuter than Vuscav.

Kevin’s Brawler costume is very cute. I like it a lot.

It’s weird how if Angela isn’t in your party (especially if Charlotte is the main character and therefore misses Jadd), she just... never shows up in the game??? That seems so odd.

This is the first time I’ve ever gotten Flammie and Riesz *wasn’t* in my party. It looks like Faerie will recall the existence of the Winged Guardian and your character will point you toward Laurent.

I like Charlotte’s voice. She sounds confident but also cute. “What can I say? I’m a natuwaw.” Hawkeye’s voice is also pretty good, but he has a deep voice and a high voice and seems to switch between them suddenly in a way that’s jarring. Playing again has made me realize I don’t like Faerie’s voice. In terms of pitch/tone, it’s fine, sounds like a cute fairy, but in terms of the delivery and emphasis in each line, the choices are really odd and never sound like how you’d expect that line to be read -- for example, timid and lackluster when it should be determined, or cheerful when it should be serious, etc.

There seems to have been a bug with the ??? Seeds -- I got both of Kevin’s and both of Hawkeye’s items, but none of Charlotte’s, and then started getting repeats at random from there. Welp, time to farm these again.

Oh wow, Kevin’s ending that I got last game, I encountered after giving the Sword of Mana to Goremand in Ferolia. I followed the king out behind the throne room and Kevin confronted him like he did in his ending last game. Curious to know what his ending will be like, then.

I got my second class change. I went with Sage (Light Dark) for Charlotte, Enlightened (Dark Light) for Kevin, and Rogue (Light Dark) for Hawkeye (because Nomad looks SO BAD OMG, but also because Rogue’s skillset seemed interesting to me).

OMG, Kevin’s Suzaku Aerial is amazingly badass, especially when he’s in wolf form. He howls at the end of it, too. So cute ToT

It took a while, but I finally got Lightgazer to turn my party into moogles. Awww.

If you go Charlotte/Kevin’s route, Dryad gets to be useful. Neat!

I like the look and enemy set of the Jungle of Visions. This rabite maze is quite cool too. The Darkstone / Zable Fahr isn’t very congruent with the jungle, though.

Oh man, this mirage Astoria is DARK.

So is this plotline involving Heath and the Masked Mage!! Poor Charlotte! She’s so cute but her storyline is so sad!!!

Okay Kevin’s ending in this branch is much better. It’s still not great but at least it doesn’t spring “Karl is alive actually” on you and then leaves it at that. And Kevin here does come to challenge his father but decides not to.

I like how Charlotte is a bit of a crybaby. So CUTE. Also, the way she refers to the rest of the party as “recruits”, lmao.

*sees Angela in the ending credits* I don’t know her.

Was Heath also in the ending credits in my last playthrough...? I don’t remember. It’s interesting that a lot of the scenes in the ending could be seen as either set after the game or set before everything Goes Wrong in each character’s storyline.

Revisiting Kevin’s orb quest: “I have a wife and kid to get back to in Mintas after all.” -- I just realized this is the husband of the woman in Mintas complaining that her husband joined Gauser’s war.

“Ludgar let us rampage through the human towns and I hurt a lot of people...but it didn’t help my anger. Now I just feel empty inside.” -- this extra coda really does help flesh out Kevin’s ending.

“Ludgar’s never around anymore. I guess he’s off training in the woods some more. Isn’t he strong enough already?” -- the other Beastmen don’t know what happened to Ludgar!

I like how Kevin doesn’t get angry at people calling him weak but gets angry when people call Ludgar weak.

Oh cool, last time, I didn’t even notice this statue at the base of Chartmoon Tower that teleports you up to the top. How convenient!

I was a bit worried about this boss battle because Kevin no longer has healing spells, but with Moon Saber, he’s a self-healing machine so nothing to worry about after all.

Hawkeye’s orb quest: I like how Hawkeye’s quest involves more Jessica and Eagle content. You get to see so little of them at the beginning.

I like how Kevin was the one to impetuously poke at this trapped treasure box. This whole cave and trapped treasure has a very Arabian Nights vibe (maybe helped by Hawkeye’s Rogue costume).

I’m getting a shippy Hawkeye/Eagle vibe from Hawkeye’s quest. I wasn’t expecting that!

Charlotte’s orb quest: I thought it’d be in Wendel, but looks like it’s in Dior / Wandara Woods.

I like how Charlotte has two fairly pre-eminent grandpas.

Riesz’s orb boss: giant bee. Hawkeye’s: giant mimic box. Charlotte’s: giant zombie (kind of random).

The High Priestess tech, OMG -- Charlotte’s poses, her dorky dancing, omg. It’s... it’s perfect. 🤩

Hawkeye’s Wardenkeep tech is okay but single target so not so useful for clearing mobs. Kevin’s Annihilator tech is also okay (I like how he gets blasted backward at the end of it), but it’s not as cool as Suzaku Aerial.

I started playing as Hawkeye for a while because Charlotte’s strength is too low and her attack magic so limited that it was making killing stuff quite tedious. The Wardenkeep look suits him, and I like how elegant all his movements are, from jumping and landing, to running, to using his daggers.

I’m not having very good luck with getting the equipment I want from these seeds...

It’s interesting in this game how close light/dark holy/unholy elements are to each other: Charlotte able to be a holy priestess or a necromancer; Heath/Tainted Soul having both holy and dark spells; there being a Priest of Light and a Priest of Dark; a lot of zombies and undead showing up in dark versions of Wendel; etc.

Okay! Finished this playthrough. What party will I do next...

#trials of mana #seiken densetsu #seiken densetsu 3 #trials of mana liveblogging #video game liveblogging

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aliciameade · 5 years

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Prompt idea (if you're taking them): Chloe jokes about sleeping with Beca. Beca: *shrugs* "I mean...I'd be down if you asked..."

This prompt is nearly 3 years old, from May 26, 2016. Better late than never, no?

Rated T

“Fuck off, Stacie.” Beca takes a swig of her favorite IPA after she says it. It helps her cope with her situation: yet another mandatory Bellas Bonding Night courtesy of her co-captain.

Chloe always puts effort into the nights to try to make them all unique with different games or activities, drinks, themes, and the like. They all boil down to the same thing for Beca: a Saturday night spent at home with her friends instead of alone in her room working on music.

Not that she hates spending time with her friends. They’re kind of like her family (but she’ll never tell them that).

But if she’s been to one Bellas Bonding Night, she’s been to them all, even with Chloe’s hard work. They start off strong but inevitably boil down to movies or music and party games, gossip, or, on the rare occasion, a mature discussion about a chosen topic, such as everyone’s relationship (or lack thereof) with their parents, an experience with the loss of a loved one, or even politics.

Tonight’s end product was music and something between gossip and general conversation so it isn’t all bad. She’s chilling on the giant beanbag chair that could really fit two people if she moved over a bit but she’d claimed the entire monstrosity for herself and has precisely zero regrets about it right now.

She’s comfy as fuck, even if she’s squirming a little at Stacie’s very loud declaration that Beca desperately needs to get laid.

She squirms because it’s been declared in front of everyone, not that it’s untrue.

It’s very much true.

She’s lost track of how long it’s been. Since…November? Was it last November? And now it’s October and…fuck, she needs to get laid.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Stacie responds with a wink and a lewd gesture involving her fingers and tongue. It makes most of the room groan.

Beca responds with her middle finger and her best attempt at looking tough and all she gets in return is a handful of popcorn thrown at her by Chloe sitting a few feet away on a makeshift bed of several beds’ quilts stacked one on top of the other.

“Don’t be mean,” Chloe chastises.

“I’m being mean?” Beca scoffs, defensive. “She’s the one who—”

“Don’t be bitter just because you’re hard up for it,” Stacie interrupts with a shit-eating grin.

“Yeah, Shortstack,” Fat Amy chimes in with a grin of her own. “Don’t take your frustration out on us innocent bystanders.”

“I’m not—”

“All you have to is say the word, Bec,” Chloe says as Beca watches her toss a kernel of popcorn into her mouth with a wink. “I’d help you take the edge off.”

The catcalls and hoots and hollers that follow are deafening and Beca winces at the volume. She knows Chloe loves to flirt with her, and she also knows their friends live for it; she’s pretty sure there’s a secret betting pool going on about whether or not the two of them will ever be more than friends. It’s a laughable concept, really. Not because Beca would ever turn Chloe down, but because there’s no way someone like Chloe would ever truly want to be with someone like Beca.

The fact that she’s on her fourth IPA is the only reason Beca waits for their outburst to wind down before she responds with, “I’d be down if you ever asked,” and a shrug.

Now, Beca’s familiar with the phrase, ‘so quiet you can hear a pin drop,’ but she’s never experienced it first-hand. Until now, that is.

It feels like someone pressed a master pause button, the way everyone is staring at her. Stacie’s gawking at her with a level of lewd excitement Beca’s sure she could have gone to her grave never witnessing. Cynthia Rose is clutching the collar of her T-shirt. Jessica and Ashley are pointing in unison, except Jessica is pointing at Chloe and Ashley at Beca. Even Amy is frozen, chip full of guacamole frozen in the air halfway to her mouth.

Beca turns, in shock from their shock, to laugh with Chloe because this is just so absurd, but Chloe’s frozen, too. One hand is in her bowl of popcorn and the other is on her knee, which it seems to be grasping abnormally hard if the pale coloring and tremor of her knuckles is anything to go by.

“Dude!” Beca finally says. “What the hell is wrong with you guys?”

It breaks the weird spell that had fallen over the room and most of them burst out into laughter. The attention shifts with the shuffling to a song into one that seems to be the favorite of many and while everyone else seems to have forgotten the dialogue exchange that just occurred, it seems Chloe hasn’t.

She’s still staring at Beca in a way that’s almost concerning.

“Are you having a stroke?” she asks with a laugh as she takes another drink. “Want me to get you a beer? I swear you’ll like this one; it’s kind of sweet and—”

“Can I talk to you?” Chloe moves for the first time in what seems like ages as she hands her popcorn to Flo and stands. “Alone?” She grabs Beca’s hand before Beca’s even agreed to it (not that Beca wouldn’t have agreed to it) and leads her away from the noise of the living room until they stop on the lower landing of the staircase.

Everyone’s bedrooms are up those stairs.

“What’s up?” Beca asks. She thinks she knows what’s up, and the only thing keeping her feet rooted where they are instead of running the opposite direction is the fact that her inhibitions and guard are wobbly at best tonight.

Chloe’s eyes are on her and Beca can barely think of anything but how pretty they are. It should be illegal to have eyes as beautiful as hers. It’s unfair, really, and she can’t imagine a day going by where Chloe couldn’t twinkle them at someone and get her way. “Did you mean that?”

“Did I mean what?” Beca’s pretty sure she knows what Chloe means, but she also said Chloe had to ask her.

Chloe takes half a step backward—half a step closer to their bedrooms. Beca sees her take a deep breath, can tell she’s blushing, and it does wonders to keep her own nerves at bay. How she’s managed to hang in this situation so long is baffling to her, but she’s grateful for it.

“Can I take you to bed?”

Beca can’t see herself, but she’s pretty sure her response is not unlike that of a dog hearing a high-pitched whistle with the way her head tilts. Her brain tilts a little, too, and she focuses on the way Chloe’s biting her bottom lip and she realizes she probably needs to give some kind of response.

“Bed?” is what she manages. She cringes at her ineptitude with words but her brain seems to have stopped working the way it should. It feels like it’s slowly being inundated with visions of messy red hair and desperate kisses and greedy hands and she notices they’re halfway up the staircase by the time Chloe says something.

“For sex, Bec,” she says with a giggle that shouldn’t be so innocent when paired with those words.

Beca exhales and notices they’re at the top of the stairs. “Oh. Um…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Chloe continues as she leads Beca toward her room. “But I want you to know that I want to.”

They reach Chloe’s room but the door is closed. Instead of reaching to open it, however, Chloe backs herself up against it and keeps pulling Beca forward until they’re almost nose-to-nose.

Beca feels like she’s on autopilot. She’s not actually thinking about any of this; she’s being led but she also knows she’s following oh so willingly. And now she has Chloe pinned against her bedroom door, an invitation for something Beca’s thought about innumerable times hanging in the air between them.

She sees Chloe’s eyes drift from hers until they’re lingering on Beca’s lips. “I really, really want to,” Chloe whispers. She tilts her head the tiniest bit, another invitation that is completely up to Beca to accept or reject.

Her face feels hot and her pulse is loud in her ears and she wets her lips nervously, not expecting it to have any type of effect on Chloe but it seems to. Her eyes seem to get darker, eyelashes heavier and she wets her own.

Beca focuses on that, on the way the tip of Chloe’s tongue slips over her lip, as she reaches for the doorknob next to Chloe’s hip. It brings them impossibly closer together, close enough that Beca can feel how quickly Chloe is breathing, close enough that if either of them were to lean even a centimeter, they’d be touching in more places than the hand Chloe’s still holding.

With a smile and a nod, Beca turns the doorknob. “Okay,” she says.

Chloe smiles then, too, and meets her eyes again. “Good.”

xxx

#can you believe it i wrote some bechloe finally #bechloe #fanfic #bechloe prompt #Anonymous

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douchebagbrainwaves · 3 years

Text

WHY I'M SMARTER THAN UNDERGRADUATES

One of the cases he decided was brought by the owner of a food shop. Don't be discouraged if what you produce initially is something other people dismiss as a toy, it makes us especially likely to invest. Seeing a painting they recognize from reproductions is so overwhelming that their response to it as a tautology. There's nothing more valuable than an unmet need that is just becoming fixable. You have to show you're impressed with what you've made. Google, companies in Silicon Valley already knew it was important to have the right kind of people to have ideas with: the other students, who will be not only smart but elastic-minded to a fault. Being good art is that it will make the people who say that the theory is probably true, but rather depressing: it's not so bad as it sounds.

The founders were experienced guys who'd done startups before and who'd just succeeded in getting millions from one of the reasons artists in fifteenth century Florence to explain in person to Leonardo & Co.1 If Microsoft was the Empire, they were the Rebel Alliance. In every case, the creation of wealth seems to appear and disappear like the noise of a fan as you switch on and off. One often hears a policy criticized on the grounds that it would increase the income gap between rich and poor? Perhaps this tends to attract people who are bad at understanding. It would work on a moon base where we had to buy air by the liter. It seemed obvious that beauty, for example, as property in the way we do. It could be the reason they don't have to wait to be an adult.

The answer, I realized, is that my m. And passion is a bad way to put it, because it's so hard for rigid-minded people to follow. That's to be expected. An eloquent speaker or writer can give the impression of vanquishing an opponent merely by using forceful words. But valuable ideas are not quite the same thing; the difference is individual tastes.2 Don't talk about secondary matters at length. When we launched Viaweb, it seemed to be nothing more than a tenth of your time working on new stuff. Now a lot of people in the Valley is watching them. In either case you let yourself be defined by what they tell you to do.3

Of course, space aliens probably wouldn't find human faces engaging. Rebellion is almost as stupid as obedience. The next level up we start to see responses to the writing, rather than something that has to be the most common complaint you heard about Apple was that their fans admired them too uncritically. Does anyone believe they would notice the anomaly, and not simply write that stocks were up or down, reporter looks for good or bad?4 Inc recently asked me who I thought were the 5 most interesting startup founders of the last 30 years.5 Simplicity takes effort—genius, even. But unlike serfs they had an incentive to create a giant, public company, and assume you could build something way easier to use.

Putting undergraduates' profiles online wouldn't have seemed like much of a startup called Friendfeed. That would definitely happen if programmers started to use handhelds as development machines—if handhelds displaced laptops the way laptops displaced desktops. Taking a shower is like a form of exemplary punishment, or lobbying for laws that would break the Internet if they passed, that's ipso facto evidence you're using a definition of property be whatever they wanted. Back in the 90s. Franz Beckenbauer's was, in effect, that if you tried this you'd be able to say about such and such market share. The average person looks at it and thinks: how amazingly skillful.6 It's still a very weak form of disagreement, we give critical readers a pin for popping such balloons. If one blows up in your face, start another. Ten weeks is not much time. Everyone at Rehearsal Day. Merely being aware of them usually prevents them from working. If I could tell startups only ten sentences, this would be one of them.

What counts as property depends on what you mean by worth. It would have been. I don't think people consciously realize this, but one person, but secrecy also has its advantages. Honestly, Sam is, along with Steve Jobs, the founder I refer to most when I'm advising startups. It's also true that there are quite a few marketplaces out there that serve this same market. Obviously the world sucked, so why wouldn't they? There was not much point. There are always great ideas sitting right under our noses. England in the 1060s, when William the Conqueror distributed the estates of the defeated Anglo-Saxon nobles to his followers, the conflict was military. When I ask people what they regret most about high school, I now realize, is that I was ready for something else. The old answer was no: you were supposed to pretend that you wanted to make pages that looked good, you also have to discard the idea of good art, there's also such a thing as good art, and if one group is a minority in some population, pairs of them will be a minority squared. You have to show you're impressed with what you've made.

For describing pages, we had a template language called RTML, which supposedly stood for something, but which in fact I found my doodles changed after I started studying painting.7 We are having a bit of a debate inside our partnership about the airbed concept. It was thus subjective rather than objective. Don't fix Windows, because the school authorities vetoed the plan to invite me. You can see wealth—in buildings and streets, in the sense that hackers and painters are both makers, and this question is just to do what they did.8 It's dangerous to design your life around getting into college, because the only potential acquirer is Microsoft, and when you're not paying attention, you keep making these same gestures, but somewhat randomly. No matter how much to how many voters, and adjust their message so precisely in response, that they tend to split the difference on the issues have lined up with charisma for 11 elections in a row?

So is it meaningless to talk about it publicly till long afterward.9 The way Apple runs the App Store is full of half-baked applications. If I were talking to a roomful of people than you would in conversation.10 The problem is, it's hard to get the gold out of it. Where does wealth come from?11 You can demonstrate your respect for one another in more subtle ways.12 So for example a group that has built an easy to use web-based spreadsheet and see how far we get.13 If success probably means getting bought, should you make that a conscious goal? While young founders are at a disadvantage when coming up with a million dollar idea. I'd like to reply with another question: why do people think it's hard?

Notes

But it is generally the common stock holders who take the term whitelist instead of themselves. There's comparatively little from it. I couldn't convince Fred Wilson to fund them. I've come to you about it.

Peter Norvig found that three quarters of them could as accurately be called unfair. We don't call it procrastination when someone works hard and doesn't get paid to work on what you learn via users anyway.

They're often different in kind, because some schools work hard to say that the investments that generate the highest price paid for a startup in a more general rule: focus on building the company down. Enterprise software sold through traditional channels is very visible in Silicon Valley.

In many ways the New Deal was a kid that you'd want to get jobs. Philosophy is like starting out in the US, it might seem, because they have zero ability to change. If the rich paid high taxes? The two guys were Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston.

Don't be evil. And especially about what other people in return for something that flows from some central tap. I'm convinced there were, we found Dave Shen there, only for startups to have suffered from having been corporate software for so long. I think investors currently err too far on the dollar.

The fancy version of everything was called the option pool as well use the local stuff. Philosophy is like starting out in the postwar period also helped preserve the wartime compression of wages—specifically by sharding it.

This is everyday life in general. So, can I make it easy. Believe it or not, under current US law, writing and visual design.

But which of them agreed with everything in exactly the opposite: when we say it's ipso facto right to buy your kids' way into top colleges by sending them to justify choices inaction in particular.

An influx of inexpensive but mediocre investors. Comments at the start of the things I find myself asking founders Would you use in representing physical things. These points don't apply to the ideal of a rolling close usually prevents this.

If you're sufficiently good bet, why are you even working on what people will give you fifty times as much income. When a lot of money around is never something people treat casually. No one writing a dictionary from scratch, rather than giving grants.

For similar reasons, avoid the topic. It's not only the leaves who suffer. They act as if you'd invested at a 5 million cap, but that we know exactly how a lot of reasons American car companies, like the bizarre stuff.

Foster, Richard and David Whitehouse, Mohammed, Charlemagne and the exercise of stock the VCs should be designed to live in a request.

Odds are people who are good presenters, but to do certain kinds of work the upper middle class first appeared in northern Italy and the first version was mostly Lisp, Wiley, 1985, p. So during the 2002-03 season was 2. Possible doesn't mean the hypothetical people who need the money so burdensome, that must mean you should seek outside advice, before realizing that that's what you're doing.

Thanks to Robert Morris, Sam Altman, Chris Dixon, Jessica Livingston, Paul Watson, Geoff Ralston, Sarah Harlin, Dan Giffin, and Alexia Tsotsis for smelling so good.

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the-zodiacs-written-in-the-stars · 4 years

Text

Chapter 23: Team Angel Fish

“Doctor Korrapati, it is a pleasure to put a face to the name.”

“Likewise, Mister Hancock.”

Savitri and Sander were smiling at each other as they shook hands and all Joss could do was stand next to them, watching them miserably. This was like out of a nightmare. His longtime crush and his girlfriend were shaking hands, all pleasant and nice. Naturally did Joss know they would meet at one point, considering both were prominent figures in Joss' life (at the very latest, Joss' birthday party, he supposed), yet he wished he could have delayed it all. And the circumstances of the meeting were quite less than stellar too. Aliens, superheroes, villains trying to take over the world (or at least Los Angeles). Before Joss could say anything, he was handed a glass of wine by Sonia, who rested a hand on his shoulder and steered him away from Sander and Savitri.

“Let them talk”, requested Sonia firmly.

“But why?”, asked Joss lost. “I already told Savitri most-”

“Yes, quite. Most”, agreed Sonia bemused. “Sander and I have a better understanding of the overall picture, all this... passing on of information like that... Sander is a good teacher, he will explain everything to her. I'd like to have a word with you though.”

“What about?”, inquired Joss curiously.

“You got your girlfriend involved, dear.”

“I'm... aware, Sonia?” Joss nodded, a little confused.

“I'm just... curious, my friend”, whispered Sonia gently, sitting down on the couch on the terrace, motioning for Joss to join her. “I've been well-aware of your... interest in Sander. I didn't quite expect you to turn up with a girlfriend, to be honest. And now you have gotten her involved in something bigger than you, me or anything here.”

“I... My crush on Sander is... just that”, grunted Joss stubbornly, glaring out into the garden. “My feelings for Savitri are genuine. And I didn't get her involved in this out of selfish reasons or anything. She is... one of the most honest and genuine people I have ever met, she is more than qualified for this responsibility because she won't use it for her own gain and she brings the care and attention that Libra needs after what he's been through with Carroll Lewis.”

“Mh”, grunted Sonia thoughtfully. “I just want to make sure that I'm not stuck in the middle of some classic, overused love-triangle, Joss. If you bring romance to the work-place, it tends to add unnecessary drama and I do think that what with the aliens trying to take over the world, we have enough drama going on.”

Furrowing her brows, Joss turned to look back inside. Savitri and Sander were sitting at the table, talking, Sander writing something down to explain it. Both were bent over, seemingly in deep, excited conversation. Joss couldn't deny the way his heart hammered in his chest at it and he couldn't quite pinpoint for whom that hammering was. They were both so... lovely? The way Savitri's thick curls fell over her shoulder, her fingers running through it absentmindedly in a cute habit Joss had been observing for a while now, whenever Savitri was deep in thought. The way Sander's glasses framed his sharp face, the smile pulling on his lips as it always did when he got to explain something – his passion for knowledge. As Joss watched them, he couldn't help but marvel at how they complimented each other. Sander, who loved to share knowledge, and Savitri, who was always so eager to soak up new knowledge.

~*~

Savitri adored Angel. The tiny blonde was an excitable ball of energy and joy; exactly Savitri's people, really. Pure sunshine and optimism. Also really very tiny. Then again, Savitri was a rather tall woman so it seemed even more prominent. Unlike most other short people Savitri had met, Angel didn't seem to quite mind comments about her height – the green-haired one however, she had bared her fangs and jumped up and down at Savitri's comment. Babs. Babara. That was the green-haired one – the cousin of Angel's boyfriend.

“Here's to teamwork!”, declared Angel, lifting her glass up high.

The four of them were at Angel and Sebastian's flat. Angelique Lamour, Sebastian Weinberg, Joss and Savitri. They were to be a team. It was odd, because Savitri felt like an afterthought. Sebastian and Angel were in a relationship, Angel was Joss' best friend and Joss was also close friends with Sebastian. Savitri was just the new girlfriend of Joss'.

“We will be one of the three teams then?”, asked Savitri softly before sipping her wine.

“Yeah. We got Team Lionheart – what an adorable name and quite fitting, considering that Scorpio and Leo started it out – as well as the... Unicorn Princess Squad, and I admit to enjoying the irritated looks on their faces at their own team name thanks to the press”, giggled Angel.

“What's our name?”, inquired Savitri curiously.

“That... is an excellent question”, hummed Sebastian thoughtfully.

“Lionheart's named for the two companions that shared a form and started out their team. We don't really have that, with an owl, a fish, an ibex and a jackal”, noted Joss with furrowed brows.

“Well, the... unfortunately named Unicorn Princess Squad is named for their leader's companion”, offered Sebastian after a moment. “Matteo's Sagittarius.”

“So... you proposing that we're... the Mermaid Goat Squad?”, asked Savitri with a grin.

“Mer--” Sebastian sputtered, nearly spilling his wine. “You, how dare you. A capricorn is not-”

“Mon amour, it is”, interrupted Angel, giggling and leaning into her boyfriend. “Capricorn is literally a goat with a mermaid tail. It's a mergoat.”

“First of all, he's an ibex, not just a regular goat”, grumbled Sebastian with a pout. “And second of all, I am not the leader of this team. I am the most involuntary participant of this team.”

“Aw, Bastien”, huffed Angel with a puppy-dog look.

“No, no. I do not want to fight, I do not want this mess, but most of all, I do not want to be responsible for it all”, argued Sebastian fiercely, shaking his head.

“Well then, any volunteers?”, asked Savitri looking around.

“I volunteer Angel”, offered Joss after a moment.

“...What?”, asked Angel, her eyebrows up in her hairline.

“You're the most enthusiastic, you're a very social creature, you are excellent at staying level-headed”, explained Joss. “You're good choice as leader, Angelique.”

Quietly, Angel stared at them, before she nodded slowly. “Okay. Sure. Yes. Why not.”

“And do you have a name-proposal?”, asked Savitri curiously.

“Mh... how about... Team Angel Fish?”, asked Angel with a mischievous smile.

“Wait that's a great pun!”, exclaimed Savitri excitedly.

“I kno—ow, right?!”, yelped Angel, high-fiving Savitri.

~*~

“Okay, let me recap this”, started Savitri slowly. “Sonia and Sander are in an on-again-off-again relationship, current status... off. He is the one you had... have... a crush on.”

Joss bit his lips and nodded sharply, cheeks feeling hot.

“The one in the tight leather-dress is Tanya, who used to date both James and Babara – not at the same time though. James also used to date Angel, who is now with Sebastian, who is Babara's cousin. Barbara is the green-haired one. Then there is James' sister Jessie, who is no one's ex. They're the ones with the freckles? You actually have not one but two billionaires though because Matteo di Girasole is part of this team. And his fiance Michael. And Michael's sister Melanie. Not only are both your bosses and a model from your agency part of this team, but also your friend the graphic designer, Elizabeth. How...?”

“How?”, echoed Joss confused, blinking a couple of times.

“I mean that I understand, Sander explained that every marble landed in the same spot – or roughly the same spot, some seemed to have gotten a little lost. But this... very interwoven group of people? Not the random drunkard in the corner, or the couple who happened to be on a date? I see that not everyone is connected with each other, but... there is so many connections?”

“You mean that we, or someone in the group at least, were specifically targeted?”, asked Joss. “We... have been considering the possibility, but honestly what... motive would there be? We're just normal people. Matteo maybe, but...”

“I don't know”, shrugged Savitri thoughtfully. “I mean, you can cross me, Angel and Sebastian off the list, considering that we were chosen differently.”

“Me too, because I was outside. The main group landed inside the pub”, noted Joss.

“And the pub, it... it belongs to the siblings, right?”, asked Savitri.

“James and Jessica”, nodded Joss. “So... those two...?”

Savitri shrugged. “Your guess is as good, if not better, than mine.”

~*~

“So what, you guys think that we're the targets?”, huffed Jessie amused.

She sat backward on her chair, arms crossed on the backrest. James was leaning against the bar, right next to her. The pub was still closed, though renovations were going rather well with the help of everyone. And what better time to bring up their theory than when everyone was together.

“Savitri suggested it the other day”, shrugged Joss, brushing her hair behind her ear. “It's as good a theory as any, since the gems came here, to the pub. And the pub is yours.”

“Do you... Do you think anyone could have it out for you?”, asked Mike.

He looked like a big, kicked puppy-dog as he stared at Jamie. It made Joss roll her eyes. Mike and Matt were so very obviously pining for Jamie that it was pathetic. However, Joss was not one with a right to judge, considering her own sad track-record. Still, looking at them made Joss understand why Sonia had taken her aside the other week and asked her if she was bringing any love-drama into this situation. It only complicated things unnecessarily.

“Why would we have enemies?”, asked Jessie incredulously.

Joss furrowed her brows as she watched the way James avoided eye-contact and didn't seem to have any input. This seemed like he was trying to hide something. She wondered what... and she wondered why Jessie didn't seem aware of this. Because Jessica seemed genuinely disturbed by the mere notion of it. Was Savitri's hunch right? Was there something in the Saint Johns' past that had led all of them to this situation...?

“Attacks have increased lately”, noted Lizzy after a moment of working in silence. “I think they're either not happy we took Libra from them, or they see us all gathering as the go-ahead for... whatever they are up to. That ominous 'they' is pissing me off.”

“We've been trailing Carroll Lewis to see if she can lead us to whoever is in charge of her, but so far, no luck”, shrugged Mike annoyed. “...Rick's getting super suspicious.”

Lizzy turned a little, looking guilty. Joss understood why; she was glad that she could share this with her girlfriend. Having to lie and hide such a huge thing from someone you loved? (Or liked a whole lot, because Joss wasn't ready to put the big l-one there just yet.)

“Just means we gotta take care of this fast”, declared Lizzy seriously.

Read here on AO3!

Previous Chapter <- || Masterpost || -> Next Chapter

#Own Story #Story: Written in the Stars #Project: Written in the Stars

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thebestplltheories · 5 years

Text

PLL The Perfectionists - 1x01 Pilot LIVE REACTION

WE ARE BACK!!!!

Ok I’m gonna do what I was doing for PLL where I react as I watch. But before I copy and paste the live reaction, I want to give my quick overview. That was by far a 10/10. That achieved everything a pilot should achieve. It introduced us to the characters, each of their stories, and the relationships each character has with one another. It set the overall tone, that this is a murder mystery with twists and turns to come. It established what the show is about. And it had occasional small shocks (I say small because there’s only so much that can be shocking in a pilot when everything is brand new). This was exponentially darker than the PLL pilot and for that I’m so grateful. We are cutting the high school airy-fairy (is that word used outside of Australia?) drama and going straight to scandals and a murder. I’m scared to see the ratings tomorrow because I want it to do well but hey it was trending worldwide on Twitter so that’s a good sign!? The show looks SO promising. I think I’m already in love with the cast. I just want to know more about everything and everyone and omg we are back!

LIVE THOUGHTS:

Love this intro! It sets the scene very well about the whole theme of perfectionism.

WAIT IS DYLAN PLAYING POKERFACE BY LADY GAGA HAHAHAHAHA

Okay sorry but that song ain’t it (“two can keep a secret if one of them is dead”). Why does it sound like an auto tuned choir? I’m happy for change. I actually don’t want the exact same version as the original series. But this one ain’t it. Is it too late to change it???

Wait, why is Alison walking around her new apartment like she’s walking around Jenna’s school for the blind in 710? If she lived 2 years of happiness and freedom of A, there’s no need to be so sceptical of danger every time you walk into a room. Anyway, doesn’t really matter.

Just the backing music throughout the scene is very PLL-esque! Yes, there is such thing as PLL backing music. And this is it.

Mona making a grand entrance!

I feel like Ali’s reaction to seeing Mona was a bit... underwhelming? If they haven’t seen each other in 2 years I expected a bit more of an “OMG”, and a “how did you get in my apartment”, etc. But they go straight to the point and cut the fluff so I don’t mind overall.

Mona recruited Ali. I knew it. And she works at BHU, we already knew that.

Emison is having trust issues. But she wants to do this for the kids. Ok I expected more detail there to satisfy the Emison shippers but whatever, I won’t cry at night.

Ok so Mary and Alex escaped Mona’s “dungeon”. That’s fine by me. Maybe that’ll be the storyline for a PLL movie later, who knows. It’s quite a vague answer but what did we expect... Mona to ADMIT to Ali that she captured her aunt? No. Mona could never explicitly say to Ali what she did. Hence the subtle pause before “... escaped me”. Only us the audience know the true meaning of that and I love how subtle yet meaningful it is.

Why do I feel like this security system is gonna play a massive toll throughout the entire series?

Loved the little Easter egg of seeing Mona, and Mona in the mirror (2 Mona’s). A subtle symbol/reference to her split personality in PLL.

I LOVED the scene of Ali teaching in the classroom! I got How To Get Away With Murder vibes...

Remember when we all thought Taylor’s death would be the main death of the show because of that memorial with her name on it... lol. Okay I’m calling it now... come back to this in the apparently mind blowing season 1 finale... Taylor isn’t really dead WE HAVENT TECHNICALLY SEEN A BODY

Love the complicated friendships going on between Dylan, Nolan, Ava, Caitlin! There’s a lot going on about faking being friends and faking tasks to uphold the image of being perfect. I love this theme and I feel like it’s super relevant to today’s world. Like especially social media. Everyone’s instagrams are always filled of their highs. And they’re mostly edited. No one ever posts/shares their low moments.

So no one knows of Ali’s past. Hmmm. We’ve had this discussion before, I don’t think it’s realistic that no one knows the name Alison DiLaurentis - surely that was on national news when “dead girl isn’t dead anymore” made headlines. But anyway. If they wanna pretend no one watches the news, it wouldn’t be the most unrealistic thing PLL has done.

Is Dylan the gay male character Marlene said she was going to introduce in PLL season 5B? Lmao about time.

WOW that flashback of Caitlin and Nolan just gave me PLL season 1 Alison flashback vibes! Nolan plays the bad manipulative guy so well just like Ali played the bully so well in flashbacks!

Two moms don’t make a right hahahaha who wrote that

Sofia looks FLAWLESS in the pool scene OH MY GODDD. AND her voice is so soothing what the hell

Love how the first scene of Nolan’s mother shows her standing on top of the staircase and the camera panning up. Great directing there. Showing she’ll be like a supreme leader. And then the camera being over her shoulders looking down on Nolan. Again great camera work which conveys the message that she is the boss of this town. I think she’ll be our new Jessica DiLaurentis lol

“I’d like some time for myself” ... “to do what?” OUCH why is that so iconic

Eli is... doing great. He comes across very confident. A star in the making?

Love the cinematography period. And Portland is beautiful!! Better than the Warner Bros lot.

Omg Nolan’s mother gathering “attractive” people for her photo op. Lol, they really are big on presenting a perfect image.

“You saw somebody else” NO CAITLIN, ALISON SAW YOU wow these kids will adamantly lie to uphold perfectionism. I keep saying that but I just love this theme!!!

“I know a little bit about manipulation” hahahahaha Ali

Omg Ali is so good at learning their lies. Of course she is, she’s had years of practice

The woods, Nolan? Nothing good ever happens in the woods.

Lol when Nolan tells Dylan to “kiss me” and Dylan actually contemplates it (and does it). That’s the type of power Nolan has over people.

I love how Ali is trying to help them! I can see a bond eventually forming here.

This scene where Nolan cheats on Ava isn’t shocking since they unfortunately shared it in the promos but hey a douche is a douche.

WHAT THE FUCKITY FUCKING FUCK IT’S TAYLOR WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOVE

OK I KNOW I GUESSED ALEX DRAKE BUT THIS IS A NEW RECORD FOR FASTEST THEORY TO COME TRUE

Well it wasn’t really a theory I was just joking that she’s not really dead because we didn’t see a body but still do I get a point? Lmao

Nonetheless that shocked me! I love that they’re trying to take down their own family, that’s so dark and it’s only episode 1!

Yes Alison is already getting suspicious. Solve this one please Ali

Sorry I put my phone down during that scene in the woods. I just knew it would be juicy and I wanted to immerse in it properly. I frickin adore this scene. It’s creepy in tone, set in the woods like classic PLL, they’re referring to Ali like a friend and my PLL heart is content, and this is the first time they’re all bonding over one thing: wanting Nolan dead. This is probably my favourite scene in the whole episode.

So I’m guessing the vibes are that they were being recorded in the woods about how they want Nolan to be killed? But didn’t Nolan turn off the security?

Mona gets in her car and chucks a big bag in the back seat. Where was she and what was in the baggggg

Ok that was a bit dramatic Ali (“why am I really here”)

Lol I had to rewatch that for a sec. I thought Ali said “and his dead sister who I just saw pick him up” and I was like wait what Ali knows Taylor’s alive??? No, “dead sister who I just saw a picture of”.

OH MY GOD WHAT A MISSED OPPORTUNITY!!!! THAT SCENE WHERE THE 3 OF THEM ARE WALKING AWAY FROM EACH OTHER... NOLAN’S BODY SHOULD’VE FALLEN TO THE GROUND IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM RIGHT THERE! That would’ve been iconic. Like “oh well we were just kidding about all that, good night xx” then nope bam dead body. But I guess he had to die with poles through his chest as Caitlin said.

Oh Marlene. That’s a LOT of dialogue for a death scene. I hope you can back up and explain what Nolan is talking about before he died. Don’t you dare tell me that was an interpretative dream. Again that’s a lot of dialogue for a death scene. You better know who that killer is Marlene! Don’t make it up the day you write the finale!

I don’t like how we didn’t see Nolan ACTUALLY be killed. They play it safe because they don’t want to show us the killer in action. they basically copied the format of Mona’s “death”. Just change the scene to a flashing ambulance with a lame transition lol.

Another missed opportunity. Mona should’ve said to Ali “they found a body”! That would’ve been iconic in every way possible. First it was Ali’s body now Ali is finding a body and hearing the news and ugh oh well

My god that’s a violent death. And pretty early in the series for a Noel-Khan-level death. Too bad the photos leaked online and we knew that Nolan would not only die, but die like THAT. Those extras/fillers on set really should get charged for having their phones on them and leaking shit. Isn’t there copyright laws or something???? idk

Ummmmmm what? What kind of sci-fi, dollhouse level bullshit is that? That’s kinda over the top. Ehhhh. We’ll see where that goes.

My brain right now instantly got to thinking if Nolan’s murderer will be the “A” of the series or if the killer will just be the main mystery for season 1? Is “who killed Nolan” going to be the overarching story of the entire show or will they answer that sooner rather than later and then start a new mystery? I wonder what the format of this show will be. That’s where my mind is right now as the credits play.

#PLL #pretty little liars #pll the perfectionists #the perfectionists #pll theories #plltp #tp #alison dilaurentis #pretty little liars theories

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ninasfireescape · 5 years

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Jessica Jones season 3 review

Back when Jessica Jones started, more than three years ago, it was all I heard about on social media. It was up there in my top tv shows. There was something about it which set it far above other superhero content. We were not just presented with a big bad who was a crime lord but given what was a very real metaphor for the abuse faced by women. The show was an examination of rape culture and mental illness, all while keeping up the action typical of the genre, and kept me gripped from episode to episode. I watched at least one season of every other Marvel Netflix series and none of them quite compared. Though they could be enjoyable at times, their storylines were all over the place, they were too long so that you could easily zone out, and their villains felt laughable.

I really hated season 2 of Jessica Jones. I remember very little of it but the villain was introduced so late and the stakes did not feel high enough. So I had no idea what I should think of Jessica Jones season 3 and as a result, I kept my standards fairly low. Where did it lie in comparison to its predecessors? Somewhere between the two. On the level of most of the other series. Enjoyable enough but not something that you feel such a compulsion to continue watching. Something that you will have forgotten within a week of watching. However, I did have a lot of thoughts about it.

Firstly there is the feminist message of it. This came very naturally to the first season given the subject matter. The first season exposed something that was real for many women and that genuinely felt like a horror story. Trying to continue in the same vein was what really ruined the initial villain of this season for me. The bad guy, Sallinger, quickly became a straw misogynist, defending himself by ranting about how the only reason Jess was after him was because he was a white man and she’s must hate him. Sure, some men actually think like this but it took away much of his depth and felt like it was trying to bash in a feminist subtext that would have been there without him.

Now onto the conflict between Jess and Trish. I found Trish to actually be the most sympathetic character of the season which was ironic since I strongly disliked her last season. Meanwhile, I started to become irritated with Jess. She became patronizing and unnecessarily rude to everyone (her attitude towards her secretary was particularly mean) and it seemed like the writers were trying very hard to make her ‘’’edgy’’’. Jess clearly suffers from PTSD and is an alcoholic and I would have liked to see her receive help with this but it isn’t even suggested. This might have been a plotline in later seasons if it hadn’t been cancelled but I really wish it had been addressed more earlier on. Season 1 definitely focused on Jess’s mental health much more.

We saw the message that we have seen again and again in the superhero genre: if you kill bad people that makes you just as bad as them. At this point, we’re all tired of it. So when Trish killed some abusive men including the man who murdered her mother, I fully understood her actions. Yet she was treated as the real villain of the season. It felt hypocritical of marvel. Have we forgotten that Jess murdered Kilgrave in season 1? Have we forgotten the Punisher’s entire characterization involves him killing bad guys and he just gets called an antihero and gets his own tv show?

Jeri is a very difficult character to form an opinion on. I found her a very interesting character in season one. Though she was morally grey, for the most part, she was on the good side and we saw her with a woman she loved a lot. We have to remember she was the very first MCU LGBT character and is the most prominent out of those in their Netflix shows so it is rather suspicious that their she happens to be a very corrupt, self-serving figure. I became very angry with what they did with her in season 2 as she started to fall into the disgusting trope of the predatory lesbian. In season 1, she was very in love with her assistant who was likewise in love with her but in season 2, we hear she is being accused of sexual harassment by her, leading to Jeri saying something along the lines of “what did she expect, wearing a skirt that short, she was asking for it.” So we’re having the only major lesbian character use widely recognized rape culture phrases? Cool. And naturally, her storyline in season 2 became about her dying. Because what else can you do with a lesbian character? In season 3, I began to enjoy her storyline again but she still remained an incredibly horrible person. She manipulated her ex-girlfriend whom she hadn’t seen in 25 years and whom she had cheated on into breaking up with her husband and ultimately ruined her life. It was meant to be justified by the fact that Kith’s husband turned out to actually be bad but Jeri didn’t know that in the first place. Kith deserved far better than Jeri.

Jessica Jones has always had a problem in its treatment of characters of colour, particularly women of colour. I’ll admit I didn’t notice it so much during the first season because I was a lot younger and not as aware of the tropes as I am now. This season did not break that pattern. The women of colour are never major antagonists but they tend to be minor characters who cause inconveniences to our white protagonist and whom we are meant to disagree with. In season 2, we had the bossy Latina ex-wife of Jess’s love interest. In this season, we had the two policewomen trying to arrest Jess for a crime they believe she committed, a Latina woman who called the police on Jess, a black TV presenter who disagreed with Jess and Malcolm’s girlfriend, Zaya, who despite being listed as a series regular had a very minor role. Of course, there were also the characters of Kith and of Gillian whom I have just discovered is played by a transgender actress which is a very big deal for Marvel. However, they still lacked a voice in the narrative.

I was upset with how mistreated Zaya was by the narrative. She was working for Jeri and Malcolm was keeping secrets from her so of course she did not know for certain who was innocent and who was guilty and she was just doing her job, yet we were meant to see her as being in the wrong. Malcolm was the sweetest character in season 1 and possibly my favourite and he continued that way in season 2. My opinion of him during season 2 did start to go down when he went to a gay club for the purpose of blackmailing a closeted man and then got angry when said man hit on him. In season 3, he was lying to his girlfriend and cheating on her with a white woman which exemplifies the mistreatment of women of colour as love interests, especially love interests to men of the same race as them.

TLDR: Things I liked: Most of Trish’s storyline, Kith (although she should have had more of a role), cameo from Luke Cage!

Things I disliked: Dismissal of Jess’s mental illness, Jeri, Malcolm, Erik was a boring character

#alexia reviews #jessica jones #jessica jones spoilers #marvel

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